LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


•  . 


ERRATA. 

The  second  note,  under  Fig.  29  on  page  133  should 
be  under  Fig.  5  on  page  29.  On  page  80  the  large 
figure  1  under  the  title  of  the  chapter  should  be 
omitted. 


he   Procession  of  Planets 


A  RADICAL  DEPARTURE 

FROM 

Former  Ideas  of  the  Processes  of  Nature 


SHOWING  THE  TRUE  MOTIONS 
OF   MATTER 


AjgW 

OF  THE     *     A 

UNIVERSITY   I 


OF  BY 


FRANKLIN   H.  HEALD 


Era  of  Man,  306 


PRICE  IN   CLOTH  $2.50 


Entered  According  to  Act  of  Cpngress 

BY 

FRANKLIN  H.  HEALD 
1906 


Number. 


81 


Owner    MIlTERS/TY 


Author 


Illuminator 


Carver 


PtTBLJSHER 

BAUMGARDT     PUBLISHING    CO- 

116  N.  Broadway.  Los  Angreles,  Gal. 


1  ^ 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Chapter  I.     Form  and  Motion 17 

Chapter  II.     Light,  Heat  and  Electricity 32 

Chapter  III.     Neptune  and  Uranus 41 

Chapter  IV.     Saturn , 50 

Chapter  V.     Jupiter 57 

Chapter  VI.     The  Asteroids 63 

Chapter  VII.     Mars 69 

Chapter  VIII.     The  Earth  80 

Chapter  IX.     Venus 88 

Chapter  X.     Mercury  93 

Chapter  XI.     The  Inner  Asteroids  97 

Chapter  XII.     The  Sun 104 

Chapter  XIII.     Moons 130 

Chapter  XIV.     Cornets '. 140 

Chapter  XV.     Mathematical  Proof  of  a  Procession 150 

Chapter  XVI.     The  Crust  of  the  Earth 154 

Chapter  XVII.     What  Great  Men  Have  Said 172 

Chapter  XVIII.     Proofs  of  a  Procession  of  Solid  Matter  to  the  Sun    185 


PREFACE. 

This  book  is  not  intended  as  a  textbook  on  astronomy 
as  much  as  an  attempt  to  correct  some  of  the  mistakes  of 
astronomers.  It  shows  the  true  motions  of  matter  as  they 
force  themselves  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance.  It 
shows  the  opposite  force  to  gravity,  which  Newton  over- 
looked, and  which  is  expansion  caused  by  heat.  It  shows 
that  there  are  but  these  two  forces,  or  causes  of  force, 
(gravity  and  heat)  in  nature  and  that  they  are  self  oper- 
ating. 

It  teaches  that  there  is  always  a  procession  of  ex- 
panded matter  or  gas,  going  up  from  the  sun  and  a  re- 
turning procession  of  planets,  moons,  comets  and  other 
solid  matter,  falling  back  to  the  sun,  which  keeps  it  sup- 
plied with  fuel  and  energy. 

It  furnishes  the  mathematical  proof  of  such  a  proces- 
sion in  our  solar  system,  by  pointing  out  the  facts  con- 
cerning their  relative  distances  from  the  sun,  and  their 
speed  along  their  orbits,  all  of  which  astronomers  have 
measured  and  proven. 

It  teaches  that  all  motions  are  related  and  governed 
by  the  same  laws;  that  suns  are  traveling  around  each 
other,  with  their  solar  systems  and  falling  toward  each 
other  in  binary  systems;  that  binary  systems  are  travel- 
ing in  galaxys,  and  that  all  is  system  and  order  as  forced 
by  the  motions  of  all  matter  and  that  it  could  not  be 

11 


12  PREFACE 

otherwise  without  a  mind  or  intent  or  purpose  to  inter- 
fere. 

I  have  taught  this  theory  since  1899  and  have  pub- 
lished a  magazine,  Higher  Science  of  the  Motions  of  Mat- 
ter, since  1900  to  teach  the  theory.  My  teaching  has  been 
accepted  by  all  who  have  studied  it — except  astronomers 
and  scientists  who  belong  to  societies  and  associations 
teaching  other  theories  and  depending  upon  such  socie- 
ties and  associations  for  their  standing  or  support.  I 
do  not  complain  of  them.  I  appreciate  the  fact  that 
they  cannot  depart  from  the  theories  and  hyotheses  which 
they  are  taught,  without  losing  the  support  of  the  insti- 
tutions or  societies  to  which  they  belong  and  from  which 
they  hold  diplomas  or  from  which  they  have  influence, 
and  am  therefore  satisfied  to  know  that  the  theory  of  a 
procession  of  planets  proves  itself  to  be  correct.  1  do 
not  expect  it  to  be  generally  accepted  by  the  present  gen- 
eration of  scientists,  for  the  reasons  given. 


THE 

ij    UNIVERSITY 

V  OF        ^ 


I. 

FORM  AND  MOTION. 

Matter  has  three  forms;  solid,  liquid  and  gaseous,  and 
two  motions,  expanding  and  contracting.  All  the  mo- 
tions of  matter  and  all  the  forms  and  phenomena  of 
matter  and  nature  are  made  by  the  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  matter  by  heating  and  cooling;  or,  by  different 
degrees  of  heat. 

Water  takes  up  the  least  room  when  it  is  in  the  solid 
form ;  when  it  is  in  a  crystallized  state  its  atoms  are  lying 
between  straight  parallel  lines.  When  32  degrees  of 
heat  are  added,  its  bulk  is  increased  and  it  becomes  a 
liquid;  and  when  the  heat  is  increased  to  212  degrees  it 
becomes  a  gas  and  occupies  1730  times  the  space  it  occu- 
pied as  a  solid.  So  all  matter  increases  in  bulk  as  it  is 
heated;  and  upon  its  specific  gravity  or  weight,  depends 
its  increase  in  bulk  as  it  is  heated.  To  illustrate:  one 
cubic  foot  of  water  weighs  40  pounds  when  solid,  while 
one  cubic  foot  of  gold  weighs  2000  pounds,  or  fifty  times 
as  much.  The  weight  is  not  changed  by  expanding  into 
gas,  but  the  space  occupied  by  a  cubic  foot  of  gold  when 
expanded  into  gas,  is  fifty  times  as  great  as  a  cubic  foot 
of  water  when  expanded  into  gas,  or,  1730  x  50=86,500 
feet. 

17 


18     ^^_^^~     THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

It  has  been  estimated  that  average  matter  expanded 
into  gas,  occupies  about  eleven  thousand  times  more 
space  on  the  earth,  than  solid  matter;  but  we  must  not 
overlook  the  fact  that  it  is  under  the  pressure  of  the  air 
and  that  the  farther  we  leave  the  earth,  the  more  space 


Fijr.  2. — Mount  Hamilton  and  the  Lick  Observatory.  This  world-re- 
nowned astronomical  observatory,  in  Santa  Clara  county,  is  due  to  the 
beneficence  of  James  Lick,  a  California  pioneer.  There  is  a  grand  view 
Irom  the  summit. 

the  same  weight  of  gas  will  occupy,  until  we  get  beyond 
the  weight  of  the  earth's  atmosphere;  and  then  the 
farther  we  go  from  the  sun,  the  more  space  the  same 
weight  will  occupy,  until  we  reach  the  half  way  point  of 
gravity  to  the  nearest  sun.  All  space  between  the  suns 
must  be  occupied  by  expanded  matter,  because  as  long 
as  there  is  space  to  be  filled,  matter  will  expand  to  fill  it, 
for  the  reason  of  the  expansion  of  heat  at  the  nearest 
sun  below  (provided  it  is  the  same  size  as  the  next  one). 
The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  gas  at  the  sun  below  must 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  19 

hold  the  gas  above,  up  as  far  as  it  can;  and  when  it  meets 
the  gas  from  the  next  sun,  where  upward  expansion  from 
the  two  are  equal,  of  course  it  can  go  no  farther.  Gas 
is  composed  of  spherical  atoms,  each  one  from  the  sun, 
held  up  and  forced  up,  by  pressure  from  the  next  one  be- 
low, so  that  it  is  easy  for  us  to  perceive  that  a  column 
or  pile  of  these  atoms  has  weight;  and  the  force  of  ex- 
pansion by  heat  at  the  sun  must  force  them  up  and  hold 
them  there  till  they  become  cold  enough  to  contract  into 
liquid  or  solid  matter,  when  they  begin  to  fall  again,  by 
gravity,  to  the  sun  or  center  from  which  they  expanded. 
These  two  opposite  forces,  expansion  and  contraction 
or  heating  and  cooling,  keep  matter  in  ceaseless  motion. 
The  force  of  heat  is  forever  disintegrating  matter  and 
pushing  it  up  or  away  from  the  sun,  expanding  and  in- 
creasing its  bulk,  and  the  force  of  gravity  or  contraction 
is  forever  separating  it  into  its  elements  and  contracting 
its  bulk  again,  back  to  the  sun.  If  there  was  only  the 
force  of  heat  in  nature,  all  matter  would  be  expanded 
into  space  as  gas,  never  to  return;  and  if  there  was  only 
the  force  of  gravity  or  contraction  in  nature,  all  matter 
would  finally  be  contracted  into  one  vast  body,  never  to 
be  distributed  again.  In  either  case,  all  would  be  silence 
and  death,  as  there  would  be  no  more  motion,  which  is 
life.  We  might  say  that  heat  is  the  life  of  matter  and 
gravity  the  death  of  matter,  but  for  the  fact  that  matter 
must  expand  before  it  can  contract  and  must  contract 
before  it  can  expand;  therefore  it  is  always  in  motion  or 
living.  When  solid  matter  separated  into  its  various 


20  THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

elements,  is  returned  to  the  sun  by  falling  or  gravity,  the 
friction  of  its  disintegration  or  chemical  dissolution,  and 
its  reuniting  or  fluxing  into  one  element  again,  together 
with  the  collision  of  its  fall  or  concussion— made  by  stop- 
page of  its  motion— causes  the  same  amount  of  heat  that 
it  originally  cost  the  sun  to  expand  it  into  gas.  There 
is  and  can  be  no  loss  of  matter  or  force  in  nature.  If  we 
shoot  a  cannon  ball  against  a  solid  iron  wall  which  will 
instantly  stop  it,  we  find  it  will  be  instantly  heated  to 
the  exact  amount  of  heat  or  force  used  to  fire  it  after  de- 
ducting the  amount  of  friction  in  the  air  or  medium 
thru  which  it  travels  from  the  cannon's  mouth  to  the 
wall;  and  this  friction  will  not  be  lost,  because,  in  the 
economy  of  nature,  it  expands  the  medium,  air,  thru 
which  it  passed. 

When  Sir  Isaac  Newton  discovered  the  force  of  gravity 
or  contraction,  by  wondering  why  the  apple  fell  to  the 
earth  instead  of  into  the  sky,  if  he  had  wondered  also 
how  it  came  to  be  in  the  tree-top,  he  would  have  dis- 
covered the  law  of  heat-expansion,  the  opposite  of  grav- 
ity, or  the  other  great  force  in  nature.  It  was  the  force 
of  expansion  by  heat,  acting  on  the  soil  which  sent  the 
sap  up  thru  the  pores  of  the  tree,  to  the  apple  blossom 
to  build  the  apple;  and  it  is  the  same  thruout  all  nature; 
the  force  of  heat  or  expansion  can  never  hang  an  apple 
so  high  that  the  force  of  gravity,  cooling  or  contraction, 
will  not  find  and  bring  it  down.  ,  Neither  can  it  send 
matter  so  far  up  into  space  that  gravity  cannot  collect  it, 
separate  it  into  its  elements  and  return  it  to  the  sun.  It 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANERS  21 

is  the  force  of  expansion  by  heat  which  expands  or  evap- 
orates the  water  of  the  sea  into  colorless  vapor  (gas  of 
water)  and  sends  it  over  the  mountain  tops;  but  it  is  the 
force  of  gravity  or  contraction  which  condenses  it  into 
clouds  and  raindrops  and  brings  it  down  again  to  refresh 
the  earth.  It  is  an  adage  of  antiquity  that  "what  goes 
up  must  come  down/'  meaning  there  can  be  no  loss  in 
nature.  It  is  the  force  of  heat-expansion  which  swells 


Fig.  3.— View  of  the  San  Gabriel  Valley,  from  Mount  Lowe  railway. 
This  unique  cable  incline  and  electric  road  carries  the  visitor,  at  midwin- 
ter, within  a  couple  of  hours,  from  roses  and  oranges  to  snow,  through 
forests  of  pine. 

or  lightens  the  atmosphere  and  forces  it  away  to  melt 
the  ice  and  snow  of  the  frozen  north;  but  it  is  the  force 
of  gravity  which  condenses  it  by  cooling  and  brings  back 
the  cold  north  wind.  It  is  the  force  of  heat  or  expansion 
which  sends  the  upper  currents  of  the  sea  flowing  north 
or  south  to  either  pole,  taking  the  place  of  the  cold  (con- 
densed) water  which  flows  back  underneath  where  the 


22  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

water  is  heavier.  It  is  the  force  of  heat  generated  by 
(lie  friction  of  decay  or  chemical  decomposition  of  food 
in  our  stomachs  that  warms  our  blood,  feeds  our  tissues, 
muscles  and  nerves,  and  sustains  our  life;  but  it  is  the 
force  of  gravity  or  contraction  that  collects  the  sub- 
stances, condenses  and  ossifies  the  bones,  muscles  and 
tissues,  finally  bringing  the  ripeness  and  wrinkles  of  old 
age  and  death.  What  we  call  chemical  force  is  the  heat 
generated  by  the  friction  of  chemical  action  in  the  disso- 
lution of  various  elements  of  matter  into  larger  bulk  that 
causes  force.  In  the  rotting  of  the  log  as  in  its  burning, 
it  is  the  uniting  of  the  carbon  of  the  log  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  air  or  water  that  causes  its  expansion  into  gas, 
and  this  distended,  gaseous  bulk  of  the  log  may  represent 
force  in  heat,  light,  electricity  or  other  motion.  Just  as 
much  heat,  and  just  as  much  gas  is  developed  by  the  log 
that  rots  away  in  five  or  fifty  years,  as  by  the  log  that 
burns  in  five  minutes.  In  fact  we  can  make  thousands 
of  combinations  of  elements  so  readily  and  with  such 
rapidity,  as  to  cause  explosions. 

When  matter  returns  to  the  sun  (as  solid  matter)  crys- 
tallized into  separate  elements,  and  is  expanded  into  gas 
tens  of  thousands  of  times  its  bulk  when  solid,  and  is 
swelled  up  into  space,  it  is  composed  of  a  perfect  mixture 
of  all  the  elements  in  matter  and  nature ;  but  when  it  has 
been  forced  up  into  the  intensely  cold  regions  of  space 
where  it  contracts  into  solid  matter  and  gathers  into 
worlds,  it  separates  again  into  different  elements  such  as 
water,  air  and  various  minerals,  as  it  goes  thru  its  evolu- 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  2$ 

tions  returning  to  the  sun,  thus  storing  force  to  be  again 
released  at  the  end  of  its  journey.  It  is  the  chemical 
reuniting,  then  of  these  elements  which  gravity  has  sep- 
arated and  brought  back  to  the  sun  in  shape  of  planets, 
moons,  asteroids,  comets,  meteors  and  cosmic  dust,  which 
causes  the  chemical  friction  and  concussion  necessary  to 
furnish  it  with  a  never  ending  supply  of  energy  and  heat. 
As  it  is  swelled  into  gas  at  the  sun  by  heat  we  find  it  to 
be  composed  of  a  complete  admixture  of  all  matter  in  the 
proportion  it  exists  in  nature,  carrying  the  life,  expan- 
sion, and  buoyancy  of  youth.  Each  atom  of  its  substance 
or  gas,  also  carries  with  it  all  the  motions  of  that  part 
of  the  sun  from  which  it  separated,  which  are  also  the 
original  startings  of  all  the  motions  of  the  terresterial 
bodies.  So  it  is  all  thru  nature;  we  must  look  to  these 
two  original  forces,  expansion  and  contraction  or  heat- 
ing and  cooling,  always  in  opposition  to  each  other,  for 
an  explanation  of  all  motion  and  phenomena.  They  will 
surely  give  it  when  rightly  interpreted.  What  they  do, 
however,  is  only  temporary;  because  what  one  is  doing 
the  other  is  as  industriously  undoing;  and  thus  in  the 
chapter  following  we  shall  see  that  there  is  a  continual 
outpouring  of  matter  and  energy  from  the  sun,  in  every 
direction  thru  space,  and  a  continual  returning  of  this 
matter  and  energy,  guided  by  the  minor  forces  in  the 
great  circling  orbits  of  its  planets,  moons  and  other 
bodies.  "What  goes  up  must  come  down";  and,  as  ex- 
panded matter  is  always  going  up  from  -the  sun,  it  will 
never  cease  to  come  down,  until  the  sun  itself  comes  down 


24  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

to  its  own  binary  companion  sun,  when  their  great  speed 
and  necessary  development  of  heat  and  expansion,  will 
destroy  their  centers  of  gravity  for  each  other  and  again 
force  them  apart  by  centrifugal  force  and  expansion  of 
heat,  to  their  greatest  limit,  after  which  the  whole  process 
of  their  planetary  systems  will  commence  over  again. 

This  discovery  of  a  procession  of  planets  is  simply  that 
the  substance  of  the  sun  is  being  constantly  expanded 
into  gas,  of  tens  of  thousands  of  times  greater  bulk,  and 
being  composed  of  the  same  materials  which  was  decom- 
posed to  make  it,  is  cooled  and  crystallized  into  cosmic 
dust  as  the  heat  leaves  it  and  it  reaches  that  region  of 
intense  cold  beyond  Neptune  where  it  must  contract  into 
solidity. 

Lockyer's  Elements  of  Astronomy,  Note  101,  says: 

In  note  48  the  marked  character  of  the  distribution  of  stars  (suns) 
of  our  universe,  giving  rise  to  the  Milky  Way,  was  pointed  out.  The 
distribution  of  the  nebulae,  however,  is  very  different;  in  general  they 
lie  out  of  the  Milky  Way,  so  that  they  are  either  less  condensed  there, 
or  the  visible  universe,  as  distinguished  from  our  own  universe,  is  less 
extended  in  that  direction.  They  are  most  numerous  in  a  zone  which 
crosses  the  Milky  Way  at  right  angles,  the  constellation  of  Virgo  being 
so  rich  in  them  that  a  portion  of  it  is  termed  "the  nebulous  region  of 
Virgo." 

Please  notice  that  at  right  angles  to  the  Milky  Way,  is 
on  the  plane  of  the  sun's  equator  and  exactly  where  we 
must  expect  to  find  the  condensed  crystals  of  this  ex- 
panded gas  where  new  worlds  should  be  forming. 

The  same  authority,  Note  7,  says: 

Far  away,  and  comparatively  so  dim  that  the  naked  eye  can  make 
little  out  of  them,  lie  the  nebulae  (from  Latin  nebula,  meaning  cloud) 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  25 

% 

so  called  because  in  the  telescope  they  put  on  strange  cloudlike  forms. 
They  differ  as  much  from  stars  as  comets  differ  from  planets. 

In  Note  100,  under  the  head  of  Variable  Nebulae,  he 
says  of  them: 

The  phenomena  of  variable,  lost,  new,  and  temporary  stars  have 
their  equivalents  in  the  case  of  nebulae,  the  light  of  which  it  has 
been  lately  discovered  (twenty-five  years  ago)  is  in  some  cases  subject 
to  great  variations. 

Thus  we  see  they  are  not  still;  are  in  motion  and  no 
doubt  in  a  crude  condition  of  rotation. 


Fig.  4.    The  Negatively  charged  Nebula  A,  is  supposed  to  cause  ro- 
tation in  B  by  Electrical  Attraction, 

At  this  point,  and  under  the  existing  condition  of  gas 
condensing  into  crystals  (which  continue  the  motions 
given  the  atoms  of  gas  by  the  sun),  we  can  readily  see 
they  would  gradually  gather  into  larger  and  larger 
bunches,  slowly  rotate  and  revolve  around  the  sun  (about 
once  in  twelve  hundred  years  providing  they  had  still 
the  same  speed  with  which  they  left  the  sun's  equator) 
until  a  foundation  was  laid  for  a  new  planet  which  would 
gradually  gather  by  attraction  until  it  had  fallen  so  far 


26  THE  PROCESSION  OP  PLANETS 

from  these  higher  regions  that  it  would  only  attract  satel- 
lites. Then  another  world  would  commence  to  form^  and 
the  last  one  cease  to  collect  matter  (except  its  moons  as 
they  fall  to  it  one  by  one).  After  billions  of  years  the 
planets  again  return  to  recruit  that  great  chemical  center 
of  heat,  life  and  light,  after  having  passed  thru  their 
many  stages  of  evolution:  from  a  loose  cloud  of  crystals 
of  cosmic  dust  to  a  dismembered  stream  of  fragments 
dropping  into  the  sun;  (having  gathered  their  moons 
from  the  space  above  them)  passing  thru  the  fires  of  fric- 
tion (generated  by  their  grinding  sand) ;  melting  by  the 
immense  heat  thus  generated;  burning,  melting  and 
radiating  much  of  their  weight  away  until  they  reduce 
their  size  to  that  of  second  class  planets;  occasionally 
one  bursting  at  this  dangerpoint  into  asteroids;  cooling 
and  forming  their  crusts;  evolving  life  (first  plants  and 
then  on  up  to  man) ;  dying  and  turning  one  of  their  poles 
to  the  sun;  increasing  their  speed  to  such  an  astonishing 
rate  that  they  gradually  go  to  pieces  and  fall  into  the 
sun,  that  great  central  rejuvenating  caldron  of  heat  where 
they  are  chemically  dissolved  to  be  again  sent  up  beyond 
the  orbit  of  Neptune  to  make  the  same  long  journey. 

There  are  a  multitude  of  reasons  proving  that  the 
formation  of  worlds  begins  in  the  space  above  Neptune 
who  swings  in  his  mighty  orbit  three  billion  miles  above 
the  sun.  Half  the  distance  to  the  nearest  sun,  Alpha 
Centura,  is  12,500,000,000,000  miles  and  all  within  that 
space  should  be  within  our  sun's  attraction.  All  matter 
leaving  the  sun  carries  every  motion  of  the  sun  with  it, 


THE  PBOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS  27 

no  matter  if  it  is  the  smallest  subdivision  of  matter.  It 
hns  these  motions  when  a  part  of  the  sun  and  therefore 
can  never  lose  them  in  space  where  there  is  no  resistance 
to  their  action.  If  the  planets  were  thrown  out  of  the 
sun  in  a  body,  as  has  been  supposed,  scientists  would  not 
hesitate  to  admit  that  they  would  retain  the  motions  of 
the  sun.  They  would  admit  it  no  doubt,  if  the  body 
weighed  but  a  thousand  tons,  or  one  ton,  or  one  ounce. 
In  fact  at  what  subdivision  of  matter  can  the  motion 
change!  Must  we  not  admit  that  the  atoms  of  gas  retain 
the  motion  of  the  sun,  the  same  as  they  would  if  the  size 
of  a  moon?  As  these  atoms  crystallize  into  dust  and  col- 
lect into  worlds,  it  is  a  collection  of  motion  as  well  as  of 
matter  because  the  motions  of  all  the  atoms  are  alike  and 
therefore  the  new  worlds  could  take  no  other  motion  than 
that  from  west  to  east  which,  we  will  see,  is  the  inherent 
motion  of  matter;  inherited  by  all  the  bodies  of  the  solar 
system  from  their  parent  the  sun,  which  in  turn  inherited 
its  motion  from  the  unknown  body  from  which  it  came. 
Suppose  we  set  a  top  spinning ;  if  we  give  it  a  little  swing 
as  the  string  comes  off,  we  give  it  two  motions,  the  rotat- 
ing motion  of  spinning,  and  the  orbital  motion  it  observes 
in  its  circles  on  the  floor.  Now  if  we  could  throw  it  into 
space  (where  there  was  no  resistance)  it  would  go  on 
making  these  motions  until  drawn  to  the  nearest  body 
or  the  one  over  which  it  would  fall. 

All  matter  seems  to  move  naturally  from  west  to  east, 
and  when  we  find  a  body  moving  or  rotating  from  east  to 
west,  it  is  only  temporary.  This  is  why  the  suns,  planets, 


28  THE  PBOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

moons  and  asteroids  rotate  and  travel  in  their  orbits  from 
west  to  east,  it  is  why  storms  and  storm  centers  travel  in 
a  circle  or  orbit  from  west  to  east.  It  is  why  soaring 
birds  travel  from  west  to  east.  All  vines  wind  up  a  stick 
or  string  from  west  to  east,  and  will  not  be  forced  to 
grow  otherwise.  It  is  the  inherent  motion  of  matter 
which  causes  us  to  whirl  and  make  an  orbit  in  this  direc- 
tion in  the  ballroom.  Blindfold  a  person  and  he  will  in- 
variably make  an  orbit  in  this  direction.  We  pass  each 
other  on  the  street  the  same  way;  races  are  run  on  the 
track  the  same  way  and  even  machinery  set  to  turn 
against  this  law  of  nature,  will  wear  out  sooner  or  refuse 
to  give  satisfaction.  Nature  does  not  make  motions  by 
chance;  it  has  no  changing  mind,  but  to  understand  its 
motions  we  must  use  less  mystery  and  more  reason. 

The  Nebular  Theory  of  the  formation  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem is,  that  it  was  once  a  single  revolving  mass  of  nebu- 
lous matter  with  its  center  where  the  sun  is  located;  that 
one  at  a  time  this  immense  revolving  mass  threw  off  rings 
by  contracting  the  balance  of  the  mass,  leaving  the  ring 
which  then  pulled  itself  together  by  some  unknown  means 
and  made  a  world.  The  figure  shows  a  circle  around  the 
sun  6,000,000,000  miles  in  diameter  or  18,000,000,000  miles 
in  circumference;  the  latter  distance  representing  the 
outside  rim  of  the  original  nebula.  We  can  readily  see 
that  a  point  on  the  outside  rim  would  have  to  travel  this 
great  distance  while  the  sun  or  hub  turned  once,  which 
would  be  in  twenty-four  days.  Neptune  would  be  the 
first  planet  formed  as  it  is  farthest  away  and  would  have 


THE  PROCESSION  OP  PLANETS 


29 


Fig.  5,— Nebular  Theory. 


to  come  off  first.  One  at  a  time  the  planets  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  thrown  off  till  there  was  nothing  left 
hut,  the  sun,  and  it  is  gradually  wasting  away  and  capable 
of  lasting  but  5,000,000  years  longer. 

According  to  this  hypothesis,  this  mass  revolved  on 
its  axis  18,000,000,000  miles  in  twenty-four  days,  or  at  the 
enormous  speed  of  750,000,000  miles  per  day;  and  this 
is  the  time  Neptune  would  have  to  be  making  on  his  orbit, 
in  order  to  carry  out  the  nebular  theory.  Each  ring  left 
off  later  would  have  to  travel  more  slowly  still  because 


30  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

nearer  the  axis  or  pole  of  the  mass ;  and  when  we  reached 
Mercury,  we  would  find  it  making  the  slowest  time  of  all 
the  planets,  instead  of  the  fastest  as  it  does.  Neptune 
travels  but  250,000  miles  per  day  and  each  one  travels 
faster  as  we  come  nearer  to  the  sun;  Mercury  traveling 
2,500,000  miles  per  day,  or  ten  times  as  fast  as  Neptune, 
thus  exactly  reversing  the  order  of  speed  required  by  the 
nebular  theory  or  hypothesis. 

Again:  according  to  the  nebular  theory  the  oldest 
planets  should  be  farthest  from  the  sun,  having  neces- 
sarily been  the  first  ones  thrown  off,  whereas  facts  show 
the  reverse  in  this  respect  also,  and  we  find  by  the  means 
of  spectroscopic  photography,  density  and  temperature, 
that  the  youngest  planet  is  Neptune  and  that  each  one  is 
older  than  its  outside  neighbor  and  younger  than  its 
neighbor  next  towards  the  sun. 

Aside  from  all  this,  there  is  the  impossibility  that  a 
ring  of  matter  traveling  around  an  orbit  could  ever  gather 
into  one  body.  It  would  be  an  impossibility;  because, 
each  individual  particle  of  the  ring  would  have  the  same 
motion  and  must  of  necessity  continue  in  the  same  rela- 
tion to  each  other,  unless  it  shortened  its  orbit,  in  which 
case  the  particles  would  only  approach  each  other  as  the 
ring  became  shorter,  and  could  never  concentrate  into  one 
globular  mass.  The  rings  of  Saturn  are  good  evidence 
of  this ;  they  do  not  show  any  attempt  at  f orming  a  sphere, 
but  simply  approach  each  other  as  the  orbits  shorten. 

The  nebular  theory  does  not  provide  any  supply  what- 
ever for  the  maintenance  of  the  sun's  energy,  but  leaves 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


31 


it  to  finally  contract  to  nothing  and  disappear.  If  the  sun 
is  contracting  and  radiating  itself  away,  the  gas  of  its 
expanded  matter  must  go  somewhere;  it  cannot  be  lost; 
and,  what  goes  up  must  come  down. 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


II. 


LIGHT,  HEAT  AND  ELECTRICITY. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  believed  light  to  be  composed  of  min- 
ute, disintegrated  particles  traveling  thru  space  at  the 
speed  of  183,000  miles  per  second.  There  is  another 
theory  of  light;  the  undulating  theory  which  is,  that  all 
space  is  filled  with  ether;  and  that  light  travels  thru  it 
as  waves  travel  from  a  center  in  every  direction;  as  for 
example  waves  from  a  stone  thrown  upon  the  surface  of 
still  water. 


Fig.  6.— Fig.  2.  3,  Electric  Lantern  for  Micrometer  Illumination;  Fig.  5.  Slit 
of  Spectroscope;  Fig.  8,  Collimator  Lens;  Fig.  16,  Searchlight  Carbon— 3,000,000 
candle  power;  Fig.  17.  Two  ordinary  city  Arc  Light  Carbons. 

32 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  33 

This  last  theory  seems  to  be  much  more  reasonable, 
except  that  its  advocates  do  not  seem  to  know  the  nature 
of  what  they  call  "ether"  and  which  they  evidently  do 
not  consider  substance. 

Since  publishing  the  first  and  second  editions  of  the 
Procession  of  Planets,  having  had  more  time  to  experi- 
ment and  consider  these  motions,  I  find  them  to  be  simply 
the  jar  running  thru  the  gas  of  expanded  matter  which, 
we  see,  fills  all  space.  It  would  not  be  possible  for  such 
a  small  atom  of  matter  to  travel  at  so  great  a  speed  as 
1«S3,000  miles  per  second;  but  it  is  perfectly  reasonable 
that  the  impulse  or  jar  should  do  so. 

Let  me  illustrate  it  in  this  way :  suppose  we  have  a  gun 
barrel  twenty-four  inches  in  length,  and  we  fill  it  with 
one  hundred  bullets,  each  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter. Now  if  we  push  one  more  bullet  in  at  the  breach 
of  the  gun  barrel,  the  one  at  the  muzzle  will  drop  out  in- 
stantly; and  would  do  so  no'  matter  how  long  the  gun 
barrel,  provided  it  was  filled  with  bullets.  Each  indi- 
vidual bullet  traveled  but  one-fourth  of  an  inch;  yet,  the 
impulse,  or  force,  traveled  as  far  as  there  were  bullets 
touching  each  other,  inasmuch  as  each  must  move  the 
one  in  front  of  it  away.  The  movement  or  impulse 
which  is  the  result  of  force,  applies  to  light,  electricity, 
thot,  heat,  etc. 

Let  us  suppose  there  are  39,000  of  the  atoms  of  ex- 
panded gas  of  matter  in  one  inch  in  length,  or  229,806,- 
720,000,000,000  in  a  line  between  the  sun  and  earth ;  when 
another  atom  is  added  at  the  sun  end  of  the  line  by  ex- 


34  THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

pansion  of  solid  matter,  it  must  have  room,  therefore  it 
pushes  the  atom  in  front  of  it  away  from  the  sun  the 
width  of  its  own  diameter.  That  one  pushes  the  next, 
and  each  one  in  the  line  pushes  the  one  in  front  of  (or 
above)  it,  the  same  distance  because  they  must  all  have 
room;  each  atom  moving  away  from  the  sun  only  the 
width  of  its  own  diameter,  yet  the  combined  movement 
amounts  to  93,000,000  miles. 

This  movement  may  be  illustrated  more  simply,  per- 
haps, if  we  use  an  iron  rod  instead  of  bullets.  If  we  push 
the  iron  rod  one  inch  from  the  sun  at  that  end,  the  end  at 
the  earth  will  also  move  one  inch  from  the  sun.  No  sin^n 
inch  of  the  rod  has  moved  more  than  one  inch  and  yet, 
93,000,000  miles  from  the  sun,  the  rod  moved  one  inch 
and  exerted  the  same  force  that  was  applied  at  the  sun. 

In  the  case  of  light,  heat,  electricity,  etc.,  it  requires 
eight  minutes  for  the  force  or  impulse  to  reach  the  earth; 
while  in  the  case  of  the  solid  rod,  the  transfer  of  motion 
might  be  instantaneous. 

This  tardiness  of  light  may  be  accounted  for  upon  the 
hypothesis  that  the  atoms  of  expanded  matter  are  more 
elastic  than  the  atoms  of  the  iron  bar;  requiring  that 
much  more  time  to  take  up  the  "slack"  in  the  long  line 
or  ray  of  atoms;  but  it  is  more  likely  because  they  lay 
loosely  in  this  vast  sea  of  atoms  (arranged  like  honey 
comb  cells)  and  not  being  directly  in  front  of  each  other, 
they  would  have  a  sidewise  motion  or  vibration  peculiar 
to  advancing  light. 

When  each  new  atom  is  added  at  the  sun,  which  must 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  35 

be  with  lightning  rapidity,  the  whole  line  or  ray,  and  in 
fact,  the  whole  sea  of  atoms  in  space  must  vibrate  or  jar. 
If  the  ray  of  atoms  was  confined  in  a  line  and  perfectly 
rigid,  then  perhaps  the  impulse  would  be  instantaneous. 
It  is  just  as  impossible  for  one  of  these  infinitesimal 
atoms  of  gas  to  travel  183,000  miles  a  second,  as  it  is  for 
the  impulse  to  do  so  in  space  devoid  of  atoms  of  gas  to 
communicate  the  impulse.. 

Electricity  travels  the  same  way;  and,  more  than 
likely,  is  a  degree  of  heat  or  force.  These  motions  are  in 
fact,  closely  related,  interchangeable  forms  of  force.  We 
can  make  either  one  of  them  from  either  one  of  the  others, 
by  employing  different  kinds  of  resistance.  We  may 
transmit  force  for  hundreds  of  miles  over  a  wire  from  a 
dynamo  (where  force  is  applied)  to  a  motor  where  the 
work  is  being  done.  When  the  force  required  to  do  the 
work  at  the  motor  is  more  than  the  force  applied  at  the 
dynamo,  the  motor  will  "stall;"  and  at  the  same  time  the 
dynamo  will  stop;  exactly  as  if  a  belt  were  running  be- 
tween them,  carrying  the  force. 

The  reason  that  sunlight  is  hot  in  the  atmosphere,  is 
because  its  motions  of  vibration  meet  with  more  resist- 
ance than  outside  of  it.  If  we  go  on  the  top  of  a  high 
mountain,  the  sunlight  grows  cooler  as  the  pressure  of 
the  air  grows  lighter,  although  we  have  been  traveling 
towards  the  sun. 

Some  scientists  claim  there  is  only  darkness  and 
absolute  zero  putside  of  the  atmosphere.  This  could  not 
be  true,  because  the  motion  of  light  could  not  be  trans- 


36  THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

mitted  if  there  was  not  gas  for  it  to  travel  thru  by  vibrat- 
ing it ;  and  where  there  is  any  motion,  there  must  be  some 
heat. 

The  spectroscope  is  showing  us  many  startling  new 
things  about  light  and  force,  one  of  which  is  that  force 
is  the  foundation  of  all  the  motions  we  call  heat,  light, 
electricity,  thot,  sound,  and  even  life  itself.  The  spec- 
troscopic  photograph  of  a  man's  head,  taken  in  the  dark, 
shows  a  halo  of  light  around  it,  more  especially  if  he  is 
thinking.  The  more  intently  he  is  thinking,  the  plainer 
the  light.  This  proves  that  thot  is  a  force;  heat  or  elec- 
tric, and  kindred  with  the  other  forms  of  force.  Growing 
plants  develop  heat;  and  the  spectroscope  can  photo- 
graph this  heat  as  light  that  human  eyes  can  see.  There 
is  little  doubt  that  some  animals,  cats  for  instance,  and 
some  birds,  such  as  owls,  locate  their  prey  in  the  dark  by 
this  light.  The  Will-o'-the-wisp  is  a  motion  of  light, 
thrown  off  by  the  growing  or  decaying  of  plants  in  a 
swamp.  Fox-fire  is  the  force  of  a  rapidly  growing  fungus 
or  plant,  upon  the  heat  of  a  decaying  log  or  stump;  and 
there  are  many  such  examples  of  force  in  nature,  awaiting 
only  explanation  by  means  of  careful  investigation. 

A  great  amount  of  time  is  wasted,  or  at  least  used, 
in  discussing  such  questions  as  "Is  there  any  light  beyond 
the  atmosphere  ? "  I  have  also  heard  long  debates  on  the 
question  of  whether  there  is  or  is  not  any  sound  where 
there  is  no  ear  to  hear  it.  If  there  is  light  in  space  be- 
tween the  sun  and  the  earth,  it  could  not  be  seen  unless 
there  was  an  eye  to  see  it,  i.  e.,  a  retina  for  it  to  vibrate 


ME  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


Fig.  7.— Professor  Langley's  Infra  Red,  or  Thermal  Spectrum.    The  stripes 
should  be  placed  end  to  end. 


38  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

upon;  therefore  we  will  never  be  able  to  see  it  personally, 
tho  we  may  be  sure  the  force  is  there,  just  as  it  is  in 
the  wire  between  the  motor  and  dynamo;  and  just  as  it 
is  in  the  belt  which  runs  between  the  engine  and  the 
mill. 

As  we  have  seen  under  Form  and  Motion,  heat- 
expanded  matter  fills  all  the  universe  of  endless  space; 
and  there  can  be  no  vacuum  in  nature.  There  are  centers 
of  matter,  but  up  from  these  centers  the  surrounding 
gasses  simply  become  less  dense  and  more  sensitive.  They 
never  disappear.  They  could  not  disappear;  because, 
like  dividing  ten  by  three,  there  would  always  be  a  re- 
mainder. If  there  was  no  gas  of  expanded  matter  filling 
the  entire  space  of  the  universe,  the  motion  of  heat,  light, 
electricity,  sound  or  any  other  force  could  not  reach  us 
from  the  sun  or  from  the  other  suns,  millions  of  times  as 
far  away.  There  must  be  a  substance  to  be  agitated,  or 
this  motion,  jar,  vibration  or  impulse  of  force  could  not 
be  transmitted.  Neither  of  the  motions  can  pass  thru 
an  artificial  vacuum.  In  experimenting  with  liquid  air, 
it  is  found  by  placing  it  in  a  bottle,  inside  of  a  larger 
bottle,  with  as  near  a  vacuum  as  can  be  had  between, 
that  almost  no  heat  can  reach  it;  and  it  can  be  thus  kept 
in  a  liquid  state  for  as  many  days  as  hours  formerly. 

At  the  surface  of  the  earth,  where  air  has  a  weight 
(or  pressure)  of  14  pounds  to  the  square  inch  at  sea  level, 
one  cubic  foot  of  water  will  make  1730  cubic  feet  of  gas 
of  water  or  vapor.  This  expansion  is  caused,  of  course, 
by  heat.  The  more  specific  gravity  an  element  has,  the 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  39 

• 

more  heat  it  requires  to  expand  it  into  gas  and  the  more 
space  it  occupies.  Gold,  for  instance,  is  many  times 
heavier  than  water;  and  the  bulk  of  a  cubic  foot  of  gold, 
when  changed  into  gas  by  heat,  would  be  just  as  many 
times  as  great  as  a  cubic  foot  of  water  changed  into  gas, 
or  vapor,  by  heat.  The  less  heat  it  takes  to  change 
matter  into  expanded  gas,  the  less  cooling  or  pressure  it 
requires  to  change  it  back  into  liquid  or  solid  matter.  It 
takes  but  a  few  degrees  of  heat  to  expand  water  into 
vapor,  and,  likewise,  it  requires  but  a  few  degrees  cooler 
to  contract  it  back  again  into  liquid  so  that  it  can  fall 
back  to  earth  as  rain.  As  long  as  enough  heat  remains 
in  it  to  keep  it  expanded,  it  cannot  return  thru  itself, 
because  it  is  more  dense  the  nearer  it  approaches  the 
earth. 

This  same  law  or  condition  must  and  does  hold  good 
with  all  matter.  Matter,  expanded  by  the  intense  heat  of 
the  sun  (which  is  146-  times  hotter  than  the  Drummond 
Light)  is  the  gas  of  a  complete  admixture  of  all  the  ele- 
ments in  nature;  and  requires  the  intense  cold  of  the 
regions  beyond  Neptune  to  reduce  or  condense  most  of  it 
back  into  crystals  of  solid  matter.  (I  say  "most,"  be- 
cause, as  before  shown,  there  is  always  a  remainder  when 
the  atoms  of  gas  are  divided,  or  else  light  and  heat  could 
not  travel).  It  may  of  course  be  possible  that  some  of 
the  gas  expanded  at  the  sun,  condenses  at  a  much  higher 
temperature  than  others;  and  it  would  certainly  appear 
to  be  the  case  when  we  remember  that  beyond  Neptune, 
in  the  region  of  the  nebulous  clouds  (which  surround  the 


40  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

ecliptic  of  the  solar  system)  the  major  part  of  matter 
apparently  condenses  to  solid  form,  yet  there  are  still 
finer  gasses  remaining  which  reach  on  and  on,  thru  bil- 
lions of  miles  of  cold,  dark  space,  and  which  perhaps  may 
never  crystallize.  Many  scientists  entertain  the  belief 
that  when  matter  condenses  in  the  region  where  new 
worlds  are  formed,  the  heat  or  electric  energy  is  pressed 
out  of  it  and  it  returns  to  the  sun  as  currents  of  electric- 
ity or  heat ;  but  we  must  surely  all  agree  that  this  would 
be  an  utter  impossibility,  because  as  we  have  seen,  heat 
and  electricity  and  light  are  only  motions,  could  not  be  a 
part  of  solid  matter,  and  could  never  be  regenerated  ex- 
cept by  the  friction  of  falling  matter  or  chemical  re- 
union. 


III. 

NEPTUNE  AND  URANUS. 

If  the  sun  is  forever  throwing  out  heat,  energy  and 
substance  (as  almost  all  astronomers  and  scientists 
admit)  it  must  also  have  a  supply  of  material  coming  in, 
with  which  to  sustain  itself.  Let  us  then,  carefully  ex- 
amine this  procession  of  returning  planets,  moons  aster- 
oids, comets,  meteors,  and  other  matter,  commencing  at 
the  farthest  planet  revealed  by  our  largest  telescopes,  and 
let  each  one  give  its  own  evidence  that  it  is  older  than 
its  outside  neighbor  and  younger  than  its  neighbor  to- 
wards the  sun.  Let  us  consider  them  all  carefully,  from 
far  away  Neptune,  that  vast,  cold,  blue  collection  of 
crystals,  on  down  to  Mercury,  the  little  heavy  dead  world 
which,  like  our  old  dead  moon  of  the  earth,  is  now  held 
in  its  last  struggle  with  one  of  its  poles  pointed  towards 
the  sun,  and  like  the  moth  circling  around  the  candle,  is 
being  drawn  surely  and  swiftly  to  the  sacrifice. 

Neptune,  2,800,000,000  miles  from  the  sun,  is  so  far 
away  that  even  with  the  large  and  fine  telescopes  of 
modern  times,  it  .cannot  be  very  well  studied ;  but  we  can, 
however,  find  a  number  of  facts  in  regard  to  it,  which 
help  prove  the  theory  of  a  procession  of  planets;  one  of 
which  is  that  it  is  a  cold,  blue  mass  of  loose  material.  The 
spectroscope  shows  the  difference  between  a  cold  body 

41 


42  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

which  reflects  light,  and  one  which  radiates  light  direct 
from  its  own  fires.  Neptune  is  found  to  be  of  the  former 
class;  of  very  low  density:  Its  bluish  colored  disk  has 
no  markings,  not  even  bands;  so  that  we  can  tell  almost 


Pig:.  8.     Spectroscopic  Instrument  in  Lowe  Observatory. 

nothing  about  its  rotation  upon  its  axis.  It  moves,  in  its 
orbit  around  the  sun,  more  slowly  than  any  other  planet ; 
requiring  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  years  at  the  rate  of 
about  250,000  miles  per  day.  It  is  35,000  miles  in  dia- 
meter, and  of  so  low  a  density,  that  it  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered solid  matter.  The  finding  of  the  planet  by  Her- 
shell  was  one  of  the  greatest  feats  of  astronomy  ever  ac- 
complished by  figures  and  reason  at  that  time.  By  watch- 
ing the  orbit  of  Uranus,  it  was  found  that  some  unknown 
influence  was  acting  upon  it.  After  much  hard  calcula- 
tion and  figuring,  it  was  finally  concluded  that  a  planet 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  43 

occupied  the  space  outside  of  Uranus,  at  the  proper  ratio. 
Years  afterwards,  when  the  first  great  telescope  was 
turned  upon  the  exact  spot  designated,  Neptune  ap- 
peared. 

Neptune  has  but  two  moons  large  enough  to  be  seen 
with  modern  telescopes;  but  no  doubt  there  are  or  will 
be  not  less  than  a  score;  since  we  find  that  planets  farthest 
away  have  the  most  moons  and  rings,  gradually  losing 
them,  one  at  a  time,  as  they  fall  to  the  planet.  These  two 
moons  of  Neptune  are  said  to  have  a  retrograde  motion, 
contrary  to  every  other  motion  in  the  solar  system;  while 
the  moons  of  Uranus  revolve  around  it  almost  at  right 
angles  to  the  plane  of  its  equator,  rising  in  the  south  and 
setting  in  the  north. 

When  we  come  to  Saturn,  its  moons  and  rings  are 
almost  on  the  plane  of  its  equator;  and  at  Jupiter,  they 
are  exactly  so.  In  another  chapter  we  will  consider  the 
reasons  for  this,  and  why  their  orbit  is  turned  over  as  the 
planet  grows  in  age,  until  they  conform  to  the  laws  of 
nature  as  they  appear  to. 

Uranus  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  is  very  faint. 
It  is  but  32,000  miles  in  diameter  and  requires  84  years  to 
complete  its  orbit  around  the  sun.  The  sun  gives  900 
times  as  much  light  to  the  earth,  as  it  gives  to  Neptune, 
and  300  times  as  much  as  to  Uranus;  therefore  it  would 
make  very  little  difference  whether  it  was  day  or  night, 
or  winter  or  'summer  on  either  of  these  planets.  The 
latter  planet  certainly  gives  proof,  by  its  bands  and 
warmer  color,  that  the  friction  (caused  by  rotation  of  its 


44  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

loose  fragments)  has  caused  some  heat;  and  it  is  much 
warmer  than  Neptune,  which  gives  not  the  least  sign  of 
warmth.  We  cannot  be  sure  of  the  time  of  the  rotation 
upon  its  axis,  further  than  that  according  to  the  law  of 
Procession  of  Planets;  the  cool  planets  all  seem  to  re- 
volve alike  or  once  in  24  hours.  It  is  only  the  heated  ones 
that  rotate  faster  as  they  become  more  heated.  Of  course 
their  equators  travel  faster  as  they  are  larger;  for  in- 
stance, Mars  rotates  in  24  hours,  but  being  smaller  than 
the  earth,  its  equator  only  moves  at  the  rate  of  600 
miles  per  hour.  When  the  first  class  planets  appear 
to  rotate  faster  than  once  in  24  hours,  it  is  because  of  their 
increasing  heat;  and  the  equator  always  moves  faster 
than  the  regions  toward  the  poles.  The  same  may  bo 
said  of  the  sun,  as  the  spots  at  the  equator  travel  much 
faster  than  the  spots  at  a  higher  latitude,  leaving  the 
latter  far  behind  as  the  sun  rotates  on  its  axis. 

A  large  planet  like  Jupiter  would  move  at  the  rate  of 
12,000  miles  per  hour  at  its  equator,  if  it  revolved  in  24 
hours;  and  the  great  red  spots  show  that  the  inside  re- 
volves much  more  slowly  than  the  outside,  or  than  mat- 
ter at  higher  latitudes.  No  doubt  when  Uranus  has 
reached  the  present  position  of  Saturn,  millions  of  years 
in  the  future,  it  will  have  gained  the  same  heat  and  show 
a  yellowish  color,  with  bright  bands  almost  to  its  poles. 

Sir  William  Thompson  estimates  the  time  since  the 
earth  first  formed  its  crust,  to  be  400,000,000  years;  and 
geologists  agree  that  it  is  a  reasonable  time.  This,  when 
applied  to  the  discovery  of  a  procession  of  planets,  would 
take  the  earth  back  to  the  position  now  occupied  by  Mars 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  45 

(who  has  no  drift,  or  mountains  from  which  to  make  a 
drift),  and  establishes  that  time  as  the  time  between  the 
making  of  worlds;  or,  giving  us  a  planet  every  400,000,- 
000  years. 

Following  this  estimate,  and  allowing  time  for  Nep- 
tune, we  would  have  eleven  such  spaces,  allotting  4,400,- 
000,000  years  for  a  planet  to  exist  in  its  spiral  returning 
orbit  from  Neptune  regions  back  to  the  sun  to  be  again 
disintegrated. 

The  time  will  no  doubt  come  when,  with  better  tele- 
scopes and  better  cameras,  not  yet  invented,  we  will  be 
able  to  detect  a  new  planet  forming  in  the  clouds  of 
nebulae  outside  of  Neptune.  This  would  add  400,000,000 
years  more  to  the  age  of  a  planet.  Of  course  this  time 
is  too  long  to  be  comprehended  by  our  present  brain 
capacity;  but  during  the  history  of  many  thousand  years, 
we  know  of  scarcely  any  change  in  the  approach  of  celes- 
tial bodies  to  the  sun;  and  we  must  go  to  the  history  kept 
by  the  rocks,  before  the  time  of  man,  to  find  a  recorded 
difference  of  climate  on  the  earth.  The  glaciers  may  have 
existed  two  hundred  million  years  ago  when  the  earth 
was  much  more  cooled  than  Mars  is  now  (or  should  be, 
if  he  were  of  a  regular  size)  and  yet,  was  so  much  farther 
from  the  sun  than  now,  that  our  winter  poles  were  much 
colder  than  now  and  winter  much  longer  on  account  of  its 
greater  orbit.  Immense  growths  of  vegetation  also  have 
been  produced  during  these  long  summers  of  continual 
sunshine,  aided  by  the  additional  heat  of  the  earth,  then 
just  forming  a  crust. 


46  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

There  are  certain  facts  in  connection  with  the  solar 
system  which  astronomers,  physicists  and  scientists  can 
and  have  determined  by  means  of  the  telescope,  spectro- 
scope, camera  and  other  instruments,  that  cannot  be  de- 
nied. The  difficulty  seems  to  have  been  to  put  this  evi- 
dence together  properly.  If  we  find  by  examining  the 
planets  from  Neptune  to  the  sun,  that  each  one  is  more 
heated  than  the  last,  until  we  reach  a  certain  point,  half 
way  from  Neptune  to  the  sun,  (the  region  of  the  Aster- 
oids), and  then  that  each  one  is  cooler  than  the  last,  till 
we  reach  the  sun,  we  may  be  sure  there  is  a  good  and  suf- 
ficient reason  for  these  conditions.  If  we  find  that  they 
grow  smaller  as  they  grow  colder,  from  this  point  to  the 
sun,  then  we  have  still  more  proof  of  a  good  reason,  for 
these  conditions  which  if  true,  must  not  conflict  with  each 
other.  Neither  must  any  known  fact  conflict  with  a 
theory;  because  if  it  does,  then  the  theory  is  not  true. 

Now  in  the  case  of  Neptune,  the  first  evidence  of  its 
low  temperature  is  its  cold  blue  color,  as  shown  in  the 
telescope,  its  immense  distance  from  the  sun,  its  lack  of 
motion,  as  evinced  by  its  lack  of  bands.  Other  first 
class  planets  have  more  and  more  bands  as  they  become 
heated.  It  is  also  perfectly  round  and  shows  no  flatten- 
ing at  the  poles,  as  it  would  if  it  had  a  fast  axial  motion, 
and  was  heated.  The  spectroscope  shows  it  to  be  com- 
posed of  loose  or  individual  pebbles,  dust  and  sand,  and 
of  very  low  density. 

Uranus  shows  more  heat  than  Neptune  by  its  green- 
ish colored  disk  and  by  its  faster  motion.  Its  pebbles  and 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  47 

dust  are  more  condensed,  not  yet  being  warm  enough  for 
expansion.  It  travels  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  miles 
per  day  faster  on  its  orbit  than  Neptune,  and  rotates  on 
its  axis  fast  enough  to  show  at  least  one  band  at  its 
equator  and  also  a  slight  flattening  at  the  poles.  This 
difference  of  shape  and  color  shows  definitely  an  increase 
of  temperature  over  Neptune.  Also  like  Neptune  it  is 
shown  to  be  composed  of  loose  pebbles,  etc. 

Saturn  shows  still  more  heat  by  its  yellowish  bands 
and  rapid  motion.  It  is  also  much  more  bulky  and  gas- 
eous; a  condition  which  further  indicates  an  increase  of 
heat. 

Jupiter  shows  still  more  heat  by  its  bright  red  bands 
and  spots,  its  immense  gaseous  bulk  and  rapid  rotation. 
By  its  great  heat  it  shows  that  it  must  comparatively  soon 
become  a  molten  mass.  When  it  does  become  hot  enough 
to  ignite  and  burn,  it  will  no  doubt  make  such  an  immense 
light  that  it  can  be  seen  for  a  short  time,  perhaps  as  far 
as  our  nearest  sun;  and  will  then  be  one  of  those  myster- 
ious new  stars  like  the  new  star  in  the  constellation  of 
Perseus  in  1901. 

At  this  point  of  the  return  journey  (the  region  of 
the  Asteroids),  the  next  planet  seems  for  some  reason  to 
have  gone  to  pieces  while  in  its  molten  condition,  since 
instead  of  a  large  planet  we  find  hundreds  of  small  ones 
traveling  in  a  great  orbit  where  the  large  planet  should 
be.  From  this  point  on  to  the  sun,  each  planet  becomes 
cooler  and  cooler,  and  its  mountains  higher  as  it  grows 
older. 


48  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

In  the  gathering  of  a  new  world,  we  must  consider 
the  crystals  as  having  the  same  motion  the  atoms  of  gag 
had  when  they  left  the  sun,  which  was  four  thousand 
miles  per  hour  from  west  to  east.  When  we  consider 
these  motions,  we  see  that  an  atom  one  mile  nearer  the 
sun  than  an  atom  a  mile  farther  away  would  have  an 
orbit  two  miles  less  in  diameter  or  six  miles  less  in  cir- 
cumference; and  at  the  completion  of  an  orbit  the  atom 
nearer  the  sun  would  have  gained  six  miles  on  the  one 
farther  away.  We  see  then,  that  all  matter  between  us 
and  the  sun  is  passing  us  (because  it  is  in  shorter  orbits) 
and  that  we  are  gaining  on  and  passing  all  that  is  outside 
of  us.  If  then,  we  are  on  the  largest  bunch  in  the  zone, 
we  must  attract  and  add  all  that  is  passing  near  us,  and 
also  all  that  we  are  catching  up  with.  The  more  we  at- 
tract and  add  to  our  bulk  and  weight,  the  more  we  have 
and  the  farther  we  reach  out  for  more  on  both  sides  with 
our  unseen  fingers  of  gravity.  Finally  we  must  pick  up 
all  the  atoms  of  matter  on  both  sides  of  us  for  millions 
of  miles.  There  would  be  no  possibility  for  little  worlds 
to  get  away  from  our  big  one,  because  they  must  either 
pass  us  or  we  must  pass  them  within  attracting  distance, 
thousands  of  times  no  doubt;  so  that,  sooner  or  later  they 
must  be  attracted  to  us.  We  are  continually  approaching 
nearer  the  sun,  however,  gaining  speed  and  getting  out  of 
the  nebular  zone  where  this  world  formation  goes  on.  If 
it  were  possible  for  one  group  of  small  worlds  to  form 
this  way,  then  it  would  not  be  possible  for  one  large  one 
to  form  which  would  take  them  all.  The  fact  that  there 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  49 

is  but  one  belt  of  Asteroids  in  the  solar  system  and  that 
they  occupy  the  proper  position  for  a  planet  is  bona- 
fide  evidence  that  they  are  the  remains  of  a  great  planet 
which  bursted  before  it  radiated  to  a  second  class  size.  If 
they  had  formed  in  a  region  beyond  Neptune,  independ- 
ently of  each  other,  it  is  not  likely  that  such  small  bodies 
(some  of  them  not  more  than  ten  miles  in  diameter)  could 
create  the  heat  by  friction  necessary  to  melt  them.  When 
the  planet  exploded,  the  parts  thrown  toward  the  sun 
greatly  increased  their  speed,  while  those  thrown  the 
other  way,  or  up,  lost  speed  and  also  were  thrown  into 
longer  orbits.  There  was  no  center  of  gravity  left  for  the 
planet  as  it  was  distributed  by  the  explosion,  and  there- 
fore the  ones  nearest  the  sun  soon  left  the  others  far  be- 
hind. Then  it  would  be  but  a  few  thousand  years  until 
they  would  be  scattered  in  a  zone  around  the  entire  orbit 
of  the  planet.  No  doubt  many  have  attracted  each  other 
and  come  together  while  the  planets  and  satellites  of  Ju- 
piter, Mars  and  the  Earth  have  attracted  others.  The 
planets  are  so  much  larger  that  their  great  attraction  acts 
against  any  attempt  to  form  another  center. 


IV. 
SATURN. 

When  we  come  again  halfway  to  the  sun  from 
Uranus,  we  find  Saturn,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  plan- 
ets on  account  of  its  curious  rings.  These,  however,  need 
not  be  taken  too  seriously,  as  they  may  be  only  worn  out 
comets  or  belts  of  meteors  wrapped  around  it  in  short  or- 
bits ;  or  more  likely  f  ormer  moons  that  have  disintegrated 
and  are  thus  falling  to  the  planet  as  meteors.  Saturn  is 
870,000,000  miles  from  the  sun  and  makes  an  orbit  in 
twenty-nine  years  at  the  rate  of  490,000  miles  per  day. 
We  must  not  forget  to  notice  as  we  go  along  that  each 
planet  as  we  come  in,  is  traveling  about  twice  as  fast 
as  the  last  one  outside  of  it.  We  must  notice  also  that 
they  have  dropped  towards  the  sun  about  one-fourth  of 
the  diameter  of  the  orbit  each  time,  or  halfway  to  the 
sun.  Here  in  the  case  of  Saturn  we  have  the  details  of 
world  making  near  enough  to  be  better  understood,  in 
that  degree  of  development  where  great  heat  is  generated, 
by  the  friction  of  grinding  matter.  We  must  be  careful 
not  to  confound  this  mechanical  method  of  heating  with 
the  chemical  heat  produced  in  the  sun  by  chemical  dis- 
integration of  matter.  Being  76,000  miles  in  diameter, 
it  will  be  seen  that  in  making  one  rotation  on  its  axis  in 
twenty-four  hours,  the  surface  would  revolve  at  the 

50 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


51 


52  THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

equator  at  the  rate  of  9,600  miles  per  hour.  The  surface 
however,  travels  much  faster  and  is  credited  with  making 
a  rotation  in  ten  hours  and  fifty-five  minutes.  To  illus- 
trate why  the  first  class  planets,  Neptune,  Uranus,  Saturn 
and  Jupiter  rotate  faster  and  faster  as  they  come  in  to- 
wards the  sun  and  hecome  hotter  and  hotter  at  the  same 
time,  let  us  consider  them  as  great  electric  machines  (elec- 
tricity is  but  a  slower  vibration  of  heat),  exalting  their 
own  motion  as  they  rotate  their  outside  shells  or  second 
ary  helix,  and  turn  to  a  description  of  the  Siemens  and 
Wheatstone  machine,  which  is  officially  described  as 
follows : 

Expressed  generally  this  discovery  consists  in  exalting  by  means  of 
its  own  action  to  a  high  degree  of  intensity  an  infinitesimal  amount  of 
magnetism.  Conceive  an  electrical  magnetic  core,  with  a  very  small 
amount  of  residue  magnetism,  which  is  never  wholly  absent  when  iron 
has  once  been  magnetized.  Let  a  secondary  coil  with  cores  of  soft  iron 
rotate  before  the  poles  of  such  a  magnet.  Exceedingly  feeble  induced 
currents  will  circulate  in  the  secondary  coil.  Let  these  induced  currents, 
instead  of  being  carried  away,  be  sent  around  the  electrical  magnet 
which  produced  them  and  its  magnetism  will  thereby  be  exalted.  It 
is  then  in  condition  to  produce  stronger  currents.  These  being  also 
sent  around  the  magnet,  its  power  rises  still  higher;  a  more  copiously 
produced  current  is  the  result.  Thus  by  a  series  of  interactions  between 
the  electrical  magnet  and  the  secondary  helix,  each  in  turn  exalting 
the  other,  the  electrical  magnet  is  raised  from  a  state  of  almost 
perfect  neutrality  to  one  of  intense  magnetization. 

This  shows  how  these  big  planets  increase  their  ro- 
tary speed  from  Neptune  to  Jupiter  as  we  have  seen  they 
do,  and  thus  become  more  and  more  heated  as  they  grind 
their  loose  mass  of  matter,  causing  the  friction  which 
finally  melts  them. 

The  outside  of  Saturn's  rings  travels  at  the  rate  of 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  53 

30,000  miles  per  hour;  and  Clerk  Maxwell,  an  English 
scientist,  has  shown  by  the  spectroscope  that  they  are 
composed  of  myriads  of  small  matter  and  pebbles,  too 
small  to  be  seen  individually,  even  by  our  largest  tele- 
scopes. Dr.  Keller  afterwards  proved  this  by  using  photo- 
graphs of  spectroscopic  observations.  He  showed  that 
the  outer  edges  of  the  rings  travel  faster  than  the  inside 
edges;  thus  giving  a  grinding  motion  which  also  proves 
they  are  not  solid.  This  motion  would  cause  heat  when 
applied  to  a  planet  of  loose  material,  which  the  first  class 
planets  are. 

A  majority  of  astronomers  now  agree  that  Saturn  is 
in  a  more  or  less  heated  condition,  and  that  the  placid 
clouds  in  which  the  planet  is  enveloped,  hide  the  heat 
within.  However,  the  ball  does  not  show  nearly  so  much 
commotion  as  that  of  Jupiter,  which  has  been  grinding 
400,000,000  years  longer. 

Saturn  has  nine  moons  which  are  traveling  around  it 
from  west  to  east,  almost  on  the  plane  of  its  equator,  while 
at  Jupiter,  400,000,000  years  later,  they  are  exactly  in 
place;  and  traveling  on  the  plane  of  the  sun's  equator,  or 
on  the  ecliptic  of  the  solar  system.  The  rings  of  Saturn 
are  very  thin,  and  estimated  to  be  not  more  than  one 
hundred  miles  thick  and  cannot  be  seen  with  a  small  tele- 
scope when  turned  edgewise  to  us.  Gallileo,  who  dis- 
covered them,  supposed  they  had  fallen  to  the  planet 
when  they  afterwards  turned  edgewise.  They  did  not 
turn  back  during  his  lifetime  and  he  died  in  that  belief. 
The  inside  ring  appears  to  be  nearing  the  planet,  as  meas- 


54  THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

urements  taken  by  Gallileo  show,  when  compared  with 
the  present  time.  Changes  would  naturally  take  place 
quickly,  as  there  must  be  continual  friction  and  collision 
so  that  they  would  fall  faster  than  as  if  their  falling  speed 
was  not  interfered  with.  As  moons  obey  the  same  law  in 
falling  to  their  planets,  which  planets  obey  in  falling  to 
the  sun,  it  is  possible  that  these  rings  may  be  the  rem- 
nants of  a  disintegrated  moon  as  described  hereinafter 
by  William  Plotts.  The  next  favorable  time  to  observe 
the  rings  at  their  greatest  inclination  will  be  in  1914, 
when  they  will  be  inclined  twenty-eight  degrees  from  our 
line  of  vision. 

Belts  are  seen  around  the  ball  of  Saturn  almost  to  its 
poles.  It  is  only  one-eighth  as  dense  as  the  earth,  which 
is  another  proof  of  its  heated  but  unmelted  condition. 
When  it  becomes  hot  enough  to  melt  by  friction  it  will 
then  be  as  dense  as  the  earth,  the  friction  and  heating 
will  cease,  radiation  and  cooling  will  commence,  but  it 
still  has  400,000,000  years  to  grind  and  heat,  before  it 
reaches  the  position  and  heat  that  Jupiter  shows  now. 

Saturn  was  the  most  remote  planet  known  to  the  an- 
cients. On  account  of  its  great  distance  from  us,  it  shines 
with  a  feeble  tho  steady  light,  which  distinguishes  it 
from  the  suns  in  space.  It  is  smaller  than  Jupiter  because 
it  has  not  heated  so  much  by  the  friction  of  its  rotating 
and  grinding  matter.  It  has  nine  satellites  or  moons,  the 
farthest  being  2,225,000  miles  from  the  planet.  It  re- 
volves around  the  sun  at  a  distance  of  872,000,000  miles 
and  requires  about  twenty-nine  years  to  complete  its 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  55 

orbit.  The  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  at  its  orbit,  is  only 
one-hundredth  part  as  great  as  at  the  earth;  therefore  it 
makes  little  difference  whether  it  is  day  or  night,  or  win- 
ter or  summer.  The  axis  is  inclined  thirty  degrees  from 
perpendicular;  and  the  seasons  are  therefore  about  the 
same  in  proportion  as  those  of  the  earth. 

William  Plotts,  the  famous  oil  expert  and  discoverer 
of  oil  fields  at  Whittier,  California,  a  thinker  of  extra- 
ordinary capacity  (as  may  be  seen  by  his  successful  reas- 
oning in  discovering  oil  fields  worth  millions  of  dollars 
for  himself  and  companies),  says  in  Higher  Science  for 
March,  1904: 

*  *  *  Now  I  do  not  take  much  stock  in  violent  crashing  of 
worlds  together  in  space.  The  deposition  of  a  planet  on  its  superior  is, 
no  doubt,  as  deliberate  as  the  other  evolutions  of  these  bodies  and 
would  be  so  slow  that  a  man  could  not  note  any  change  in  his1  lifetime; 
and  many  forms  of  life  would  have  time  to  evolve  by  natural  selection, 
into  adaptation  of  changed  conditions,  if,  for  instance,  our  moon  should 
be  in  process  of  deposition  upon  the  earth,  and  speaking  cosmically, 
that  event  is  about  due.  We  are  familiar  with  the  trick  of  swinging  a 
bucket  of  water  vertically  around  our  heads  to  show  that  the  water 
would  remain  in  the  bucket  upside  down.  Now  if  instead  of  a  bucket 
of  water  we  substitute  a  bicycle  wheel  containing  a  little  water,  we 
find  when  rapidly  revolved,  the  water  distributes  itself  evenly  through 
the  tube,  with  a  tendency  to  flatten  out  in  line  with  the  hub  and  if 
all  the  gravity  of  the  earth  was  absent  and  a  globe  of  metal  weighing 
say  one  hundred  pounds,  would  take  the  place  of  the  wheel,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  water  would  take  on  the  form  of  a  thin  hollow  disk, 
provided  the  revolution  of  the  water  was  just  right  to  balance  it.  Now 
we  must  assume  that  an  advance  planet  like  Mercury  or  the  moon  has 
no  cohesive  qualities  except  local  gravitation,  because  the  outer  crust 
of  the  earth  where  it  has  cooled  has  none,  being  checkered  by  cleavage 
caused  by  the  surface  cooling  faster  than  the  interior,  also  the  faulting 
and  crushing  that  comes  from  lateral  pressure  of  the  whole  crust  com- 
monly ascribed  to  the  shrinking  of  the  earth.  As  an  inferior  body 


56  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

approaches  its  superior  it  gradually  loses  its  local  gravity  and  takes  on 
a  tendency  to  form  a  thin  disk  as  the  water  would.  The  body  would 
probably  first  separate  into  two  or  more  parts  and  if  they  became  far 
apart  in  line  with  the  superior  globe  before  extensive  disintegration 
of  the  parts,  they  would  form  two  or  more  disks,  one  within  the  other, 
all  revolving  as  before  the  separation  of  the  disks  into  rings.  This 
process  would  go  on  until  the  inner  edge  of  the  disk  or  disks  began  to 
be  retarded  by  the  superior  globe's  volatile  envelope  corresponding  to 
our  atmosphere,  when  the  disintegrated  matter  would  descend  in  the 
form  of  meteors,  tho  not  so  rapidly  as  to  destroy  life  to  any 
considerable  extent.  The  most  serious  feature  however,  to  a  life-contain- 
ing globe  like  the  earth,  would  be  the  interference  of  the  rings  with 
the  rays'  of  the  sun  and  perhaps  the  perplexing  conditions  ascribed  to  the 
"glacial  epoch"  could  be  accounted  for  in  this  way. 

Same  writer  in  Higher  Science  magazine  for  February, 
1905,  says: 

My  interpretation  of  the  Heald  law  of  the  planetary 
procession  is,  that  all  bodies  are  falling  together  as  fast  as 
they  Dossibly  can;  or  rather,  that  all  minor  bodies  are  falnug 
toward  the  sun  as  fast  as  they  can  and  will  eventually  join  it;  and  in 
compensation  a  like  quantity  of  matter  in  an  invisible  and  immensely 
expanded  state  swells  constantly  upwards,  condenses  and  concentrates 
into  new  planets,  mostly  beyond  the  orbit  of  known  planets.  This 
being  the  case,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  possibility  of  refuting  it,  there 
will  be  a  time  when  each  minor  body  will  be  absorbed  by  its  superior. 
My  conception  of  this  process  is,  that  it  is  as  orderly  and  deliberate  as 
its  whole  approach  to  its  goal;  and  that  one  phase  of  this  process  is  in 
full  view  in  the  planet  Saturn  and  its  rings.  * 


V. 
JUPITER. 

Leaving  Saturn  to  its  grinding  and  heating,  and 
coming  in  once  more  halfway  to  the  sun  from 
Saturn,  we  arrive  at  the  greatest  of  all  the  planets  in 
size.  It  is  swelled  almost  beyond  recognition  as  a  planet 
and  is  surrounded  by  all  the  gases  and  clouds  belonging 
to  a  stage  of  great  heat;  a  stage  thru  which  every  planet 
must  pass  before  it  can  melt  into  a  smaller  body  and  com- 
mence its  task  of  radiating  to  the  size  of  a  second  class 
planet,  and  cooling  so  that  it  can  form  a  crust  and  pro- 
duce life.  This  it  could  never  do  without  the  melting  and 
condensing  which  stops  the  friction  of  grinding.  Neither 
could  gravity  separate  its  elements,  which  if  not  separat- 
ed, could  not  create  the  chemical  heat  in  reuniting  with 
the  matter  of  the  sun,  as  they  do  when  separated  into 
their  elements.  Points  on  Jupiter's  surface  travel  at 
great  speed;  and  it  is  supposed  to  make  a  rotation  in  a 
little  more  than  nine  hours.  Of  this,  however,  we  cannot 
be  quite  certain,  as  we  have  only  seen  the  motion  of  its 
outside  shell  as  is  also  the  case  with  all  first  class  planets 
and  the  sun. 

Says  Prof.  James  E.  Keeler: 

In  1878  there  suddenly  appeared  a  pink  spot  on  the  surface  of 
Jupiter  of  unprecedented  dimensions;  the  length  is  given  as  30,000  miles 
by  7,000  miles  broad.  In  another  year  it  was  a  full  Indian  red.  So 

57 


58  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

completely  did  it  dwarf  all  other  recorded  spots  that  it  was  henceforth 
known  as  "the  great  red  spot."  It  faded  away  and  was  almost  invisible 
in  1883.  The  time  of  rotation  of  the  red  spot  is  not  the  same  as  the 
adjacent  forms.  In  1890  a  large  spot  was  moving  towards  the  red 
spot  at  the  rate  of  20  miles  per  hour.  The  great  red  spot  was  like  a 
bank  of  sand  in  a  river  past  which  the  clouds  go  scurrying. 

This  shows  conclusively  that  the  inside  of  Jupiter 
does  move  more  slowly  than  the  outside;  and  many 
astronomers  consider  the  action  of  the  spots  a  proof  of  it. 
The  bright  colored  bands  of  Jupiter  show  it  to  be  a 


Fig.  10.— The  Planet  Jupiter  from  photograph  by  Barnard. 

glowing  mass  almost  ready  to  melt  down.  When  it  final- 
ly does  so,  and  settles  down  to  a  much  smaller  size,  the 
process  of  radiation  will  commence  at  once,  and  Jupiter 
will  be  a  bright  burning  star  like  the  planet  that  made  the 
Asteroids  by  its  bursting. 

It  has  been  a  standing  mystery  why  Neptune,Uranus, 
Saturn  and  Jupiter  are  such  monsters  in  size  when  com- 
pared with  Mars,  Earth,  Venus  and  Mercury;  but  it  seems 
very  simple  that  they  must  melt  and  radiate  to  a  reason- 
able size,  before  they  become  cool  enough  to  form  a 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  59 

crust.  Jupiter  will  be  almost  a  small  sun  when  he  finally 
bursts  into  flames;  but  he  will  not  reach  the  present  orbit 
of  Mars  for  800,000,000  years  where  he  can  cool,  form  a 
crust  and  commence  to  evolve  life.  He  is  the  great  giant 
among  planets  now,  but  each  one  as  it  reaches  his  present 
orbit  will  be  the  great  giant.  Saturn  is  following;  and 
when  he  has  become  melted  and  is  radiating  his  bulk- 
away,  Saturn  will  be  the  great  giant,  its  rings  and  some 
of  its  moons  will  be  added  to  the  melting  mass,  Uranus 
will  be  in  Saturn's  place,  Neptune  will  be  in  the  place  of 
Uranus  and  a  monstrous  blue,  cold  cloud  of  sand,  stones 
and  crystals  will  come  in  sight  as  a  new  world  just  show- 
ing its  motions  and  its  comet  moons  probably  revolving 
backwards  in  their  orbits. 

Jupiter  is  the  nearest  of  the  large  planets  and  is  483,- 
000,000  miles  from  the  sun.  On  account  of  its  great  dis- 
tance from  the  sun  when  compared  to  the  earth,  it  pre- 
sents no  visible  change  of  phase;  always  appearing  full, 
almost  the  same  as  if  we  were  at  the  sun.  This  also  ap- 
plies to  all  the  planets  more  remote.  The  volume  of  Jupi 
ter  is  about  one  and  a  half  times  all  the  others  in  mass. 
Its  rapidity  of  rotation  produces  a  sensible  oblateness, 
its  ellipticity  is  so  considerable  a  deviation  from  the 
spherical  form  that  it  is  perceptible  to  the  eye  without 
measurement.  The  orbit  of  Jupiter  is  nearly  in  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic  and  has  an  eccentricity  of  one-twentieth, 
which  is  three  times  that  of  the  earth's  orbit.  The 
equator  is  inclined  three  degrees  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit; 


60  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

so  there  is  no  perceptible  change  of  seasons,  even  if  there 
were  sunlight  enough  to  make  seasons. 

Belts  of  Jupiter  are  the  bands  or  stripes  of  darker 
shade  than  the  rest  of  the  disk  stretching  across  it  in  the 
direction  of  its  rotation.  They  vary  from  time  to  time 
in  number  and  width,  sometimes  covering  a  large  part 
of  the  surface.  The  belt  usually  appears  of  uniform 
width  entirely  across  the  disk,  but  not  always.  Occasion- 
ally its  edge  is  broken  and  often  much  wider  in  one  part 
than  another.  The  change  of  breadth  is  quite  abrupt, 
thereby  revealing  the  rotation  of  the  planet. 

Jupiter  has  seven  satellites;  the  farthest  one  from 
the  planet  being  4,228,000  miles  distant ;  four  of  them  are 
large  enough  to  be  seen  with  a  good  field  glass  and  one 
of  them  large  enough  to  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye,  from 
mountain  heights  of  Southern  California.  On  account 
of  the  great  size  of  Jupiter  and  its  shadow,  and  the  small 
inclination  between  its  own  orbit  and  the  orbits  of  its 
satellites,  most  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter  are  eclipsed  at 
every  revolution  when  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  sun, 
while  they  usually  eclipse  Jupiter  itself,  in  passing 
between  it  and  the  sun.  These  eclipses  are  occurring 
almost  daily.  When  Jupiter  is  eclipsed  by  one  of  its 
moons,  we  see  only  a  dark  spot  going  across  its  disk.  The 
velocity  of  light  was  first  discovered  by  observing  these 
eclipses.  Eoemer  noticed  that  as  the  planet  and  the 
earth  were  receding,  the  time  of  the  small  moon,  I,  did  not 
come  as  soon  as  it  should;  and  in  wondering  why  it  was 
so,  he  concluded  it  took  light  that  much  more  time  to 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  61 

travel  the  extra  distance.  So  he  watched  the  eclipses 
until  the  two  planets  began  to  approach  each  other  again, 
when  sure  enough,  the  time  began  to  shorten  and  the 
eclipses  came  too  soon.  From  this  he  soon  calculated  the 
speed  of  light. 

Astronomers  accredit  Jupiter  with  a  red  atmosphere. 
No  doubt  it  has  a  fiery  gas  under  the  carbonaceous  clouds 
that  partially  hide  its  great  smothered  heat;  and  people 
will  think  the  inferno  has  broken  out  again,  if  any  are 
alive  when  the  smothered  flames  of  Jupiter  can  no  longer 
be  hidden  under  the  blankets  of  carbon  and  it  bursts  out 
into  a  blazing  mass  of  fire.  The  great  red  spot  may  have 
been  a  moon  which  had  been  revolving  around  Jupiter, 
under  its  clouds  of  carbon,  and  which  was  too  small  to 
be  seen  till  it  fell  into  the  more  solid  interior  of  the 
planet  and  received  enough  heat  from  it  to  make  a  red 
color.  Some  astronomers  explain  the  so-called  red  atmos- 
phere to  be  due  to  sunlight  effects  on  its  clouds.  They 
forget  that  the  planet  is  five  times  as  far  from  the  sun  as 
the  earth,  and  that  sunlight  there  would  be  a  very  small 
matter  indeed. 

Summing  up  all  the  evidence  in  sight,  we  find  Jupiter 
hotter  and  more  expanded  than  any  other  planet  in  the 
system.  Saturn  following  him,  is  heating,  Mars  before 
him  is  cooling;  so  that,  at  some  point  between  Jupiter's 
orbit  and  the  orbit  of  Mars,  is  the  point  of  greatest  heat 
as  we  have  seen,  where  the  worlds  melt  as  they  come  in. 
Also  as  we  have  seen,  and  as  the  spectroscope  and  tele- 
scope plainly  show,  up  to  this  time  they  have  been  grow- 


62  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

ing  warmer.  While  they  were  heating,  they  were  also 
swelling  in  volume,  as  well  as  having  considerable  stray 
matter  added  to  their  bulk  as  they  generated  heat,  electric 
and  magnetic  currents  and  power.  They  have  rotated 
faster,  and  at  the  same  time  they  have  traveled  faster  on 
their  orbits  as  they  have  dropped  towards  the  sun,  till  now 
we  find  Jupiter  traveling  at  the  rate  of  690,000  miles  per 
day.  Saturn  makes  a  revolution  on  its  axis  in  ten  hours 
and  fourteen  minutes,  while  Jupiter,  altho  many  thousand 
miles  larger  in  circumference  makes  a  revolution  in  nine 
hours  and  fifty-five  minutes*— We  do  not  know  the  time  in 
which  Uranus  rotates,  but  we  know  it  is  much  less  than 
that  required  by  Neptune.  This  is  proved  by  the  faint 
band  around  Uranus.  So,  we  see  that,  more  and  more 
they  become  great  electric  heat-dynamoes,  as  they  come 
in,  till  they  reach  the  present  orbit  of  Jupiter  which  must 
be  near  the  melting  point.  The  sum  of  the  evidence  is 
patent  to  all:  as  the  planets  grind  away  thru  the  million 
ages,  they  generate  by  friction,  the  heat  and  electricity 
which  finally  melts  them  down.  Then,  their  increasing 
electrical  and  heat  motions  being  no  longer  augmented, 
cease;  and  the  mass  gradually  settles  back  to  the  rotary 
motion  of  the  inside  matter  of  the  planet,  which,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  is  the  inherent  motion  of  all  matter  as, 
in  the  form  of  expanded  gas,  it  comes  from  the  sun's 
equator. 


VI. 
THE  ASTEROIDS. 

Coming  in  this  time  halfway  from  Jupiter  to  the 
sun,  which  point,  as  we  have  seen,  should  be  the  orbit  of 
a  planet,  we  find  signs  of  the  celestial  catastrophe  be- 
fore referred  to,  the  scattered  remains  of  a  planet;  frag- 
ments of  a  world,  burst  in  the  crucible.  Here  seems  ab- 
solute proof  of  its  former  great  heat  and  rotary  motion; 
because,  it  would  have  to  be  thoroughly  melted  and  con- 
densed before  it  could  explode,  and  if  it  had  not  been  in 
a  molten  state  when  it  exploded,  the  pieces  thus  far  re- 
vealed to  us  by  telescope,  would  not  be  as  they  are  with 
a  few  exceptions,  in  spherical  form  and  smooth,  but  in  all 
kinds  of  shapes  and  chunks.  The  reason  for  the  excep- 
tions will  be  seen  as  we  consider  the  moons  of  Asteroid 
before  its  explosion  and  subdivision. 

The  contracting  theory  that  these  bodies  came  from 
a  ring  of  matter  left  over  will  not  stand  the  test,  because 
conditions  prove  them  to  have  been  in  a  molten  state 
when  formed,  and  we  can  easily  see  that  such  small  bodies 
as  they  are  could  not  of  themselves  generate  sufficient 
heat  to  cause  the  melting.  That  they  would  cool  very 
fast  is  obvious,  from  the  fact  of  their  small  size,  and 
judging  by  their  weight,  density  and  size,  they  must  be 
cooled  to  the  center.  They  follow  the  original  orbit  of 

63 


64  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

the  planet,  as  nearly  as  could  be  expected,  but  of  course 
are  greatly  scattered  and  strung  along  the  orbit. 

It  would  be  of  the  greatest  interest  if  we  could  see 
this  fiery  planet  in  its  orbit,  unimpaired,  as  future  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth  will  sometime  see  Jupiter,  provided 
of  course,  he  too  does  not  burst  in  passing  this  danger 
point.  No  doubt  the  planet  Asteroid  (1)  would  be  much 
smaller  than  Jupiter,  because  it  would  be  in  the  molten 
state  and  much  of  its  heat  and  weight  radiated  away;  yet 
it  would  no  doubt  be  much  larger  than  the  earth,  as  it 
would  still  have  400,000,000  years  to  radiate  and  con- 
dense, before  reaching  the  present  orbit  of  Mars,  where  a 
crust  could  begin  to  form.  If  the  original  planet  still  re- 
mained intact,  it  would  no  doubt  be  a  bright  burning  star 
in  the  most  interesting  stage  of  its  radiation  to  a  planet 
of  the  second  class. 

The  objection  that  if  one  planet  bursts  at  the  orbit 
of  the  asteroids,  they  should  all  do  the  same,  is  not  a 
necessary  conclusion.  Its  bursting  was  due  in  part  to  its 
overrate  of  speed  in  rotating,  induced  by  the  mechani- 
cally produced  overproduction  of  electrical  magnetic 
energy;  and  while  nature  herself  makes  no  mistakes,  we 
know  that  a  machine  is  always  liable  to  accident.  The 
planets,  we  see,  become  at  this  point  great  electro-mag- 
netic machines,  liable  to  accident;  but  we  also  see  that 
Mars,  Earth,  Venus  and  Mercury  have  all  reached  and 
passed  this  danger  point  safely. 

There  is  no  legend  or  story  in  history  of  this  fiery 
orb,  therefore  the  accident  must  have  occurred  more  than 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  65 

thirty-five  thousand  years  ago.  Perhaps  if  archaeologists 
continue  to  find  old  cities  beneath  the  almost  mythical 
city  of  Nipur,  they  may  yet  find  some  reference  to  it,  inas- 
much as  it  must  have  been  a  very  prominent  feature  of 
the  sky,  having  almost  the  appearance  of  a  small  sun  for 
at  least  two  years  out  of  seven,  and  would  have  been  the 
third  celestial  attraction  while  it  lasted. 

In  order  to  throw  all  the  light  possible  on  this  inter- 
esting procession  of  planets,  we  must  consider  for  a 
moment,  what  might  have  become  of  the  four  moons  due 
to  this  unfortunate  body  at  the  time  of  its  bursting. 
We  must  also  see  that  as  moons  are  always  smaller,  there- 
fore cooler  than  a  planet,  the  nearest  moon  of  Asteroid 
might  be  broken  in  the  explosion.  Eros,  the  nearest 
asteroid  to  the  earth  of  any  known,  isi  only  a  fragment  of 
a  larger  body.  It  has  corners  where  its  different  faces 
meet  at  angles,  and  shows  regularly  alternating  bright- 
ness as  it  rotates  every  five  hours  and  twenty  minutes. 
There  are  also  a  number  of  other  fragments,  as  there 
should  be,  if  a  moon  was  destroyed  in  the  accident.  Its 
nearest  moon,  of  which  Eros  was  undoubtedly  a  part,  was 
probably  between  it  and  the  sun  at  the  time  of  the  ac- 
cident and  was  broken  to  pieces  and  thrown  towards  the 
sun.  All  the  asteroids  that  are  not  spheres  have  the  apex 
of  their  orbits  this  side  of  the  center  of  the  belt  of  Aster- 
oids. It  has  been  discovered  within  the  last  two  years 
that  one  of  the  asteroids  is  almost  the  size  of  our  own 
moon  and  that  there  are  several  larger  than  the  greater 
moon  of  Mars.  No  doubt  these  asteroids  are  really  the 


66  THE  PKOCE8SION  OF  PLANETS 

moons  that  once  followed  that  unfortunate  body.  We 
may  be  quite  sure  that  at  least  three  moons  are  in  some 
part  of  the  orbital  path  of  the  asteroids  between  Mars 
and  Jupiter;  and  these  larger  bodies  may  be  the  moons 
wanted  as  witnesses.  Perhaps  there  may  be  billions  of 
these  asteroids  that  can  never  be  seen  from  the  earth  as 
they  are  100,000,000  miles  from  it  on  an  average  at  the 
nearest  point,  and  five  times  as  far,  a  part  of  the  time. 
Eros,  the  nearest  known  asteroid  to  the  earth,  will  come 
as  close  as  19,000,000  miles  in  1924.  Its  orbit  is  an  elipse 
and  at  times  is  far  inside  of  Mars.  Being  so  small  (only 
20  miles  in  diameter),  it  is  easily  influenced  out  of  its 
orbit  by  the  planets  and  is  liable  to  be  picked  up  some- 
time by  Mars,  as  it  must  cross  the  orbit  of  Mars  in  every 
trip  round  the  sun.  Eros  is  expected  to  furnish  an  exact 
basis  of  measurement  by  which  to  correct  distances  of  all 
celestial  bodies,  because  it  is  so  small  that  its  exact  posi- 
tion within  a  few  feet  can  be  taken  at  any  time. 

The  asteroids,  like  Neptune,  were  discovered  by 
means  of  mathematical  calculations,  coupled  with  theory 
and  reason.  In  1772  Titus  found  that  the  following  ratio 
would  represent  thei  approximate  positions  of  the  planets 
from  the  sun.  Representing  the  earth's  distance  by  ten, 
he  found  the  following  ratio  by  theory  and  fact: 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  67 

Planet  Ratio               Theory.               Fact. 

Mercury   0+4 4 5.9 

Venus    3+4 7 7.2 

Earth    ,,.,6+4 10 10.0 

Mars   12+4 16 15.2 

Asteroids   24+4 .,   28 28.5 

Jupiter   48+4 52 ...52.0 

Saturn    96+4 100 95.4 

Neither  Uranus  nor  Neptune  had  been  discovered  at 
that  time,  but  when  Uranus  was  discovered  and  found 
to  reasonably  conform  to  the  same  ratio,  this  gap  be- 
tween Jupiter  and  Mars  made  such  an  impression  on 
Bodie,  the  great  Berlin  astronomer,  that  he  undertook 
the  task  of  finding  the  missing  planet. 

It  was,  however,  twenty  years  before  Piazzi,  a  Sicil- 
ician  astronomer,  discovered  the  first  asteroid,  Ceres. 
Since  that*' time  theyt  have  been  discovered  almost  nightly, 
by  cameras  which  were  set  for  them.  Vesta,  one  of  the 
asteroids  is  visible  to>  the  naked  eye  and  altho  it  is  not  the 
largest  it  is  the  brightest.  The  diameters  of  the  four 
largest  of  these  tiny  worlds  discovered  prior  to  1845  are 
as  follows: 

Ceres  480  miles  in  diameter. 
Pallas  304  miles  in  diameter. 
Vesta  243  miles  in  diameter. 
Juno  118  miles  in  diameter. 

They  cannot  be  distinguished  by  the  telescope  from 
faint  fixed  stars,  except  by  their  motion.  They  are  gen- 
erally too  small  to  show  a  sensible  disk  and  cannot  be 


68  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS    . 

measured  with  any  certainty.  It  is  estimated  by  the 
slight  disturbing  influence  that  they  exert  that  their  en- 
tire mass  is  equal  to  only  a  fraction  of  the  earth.  This 
however  is  because  each  one  acts  independently  for  itself; 
and  their  entire  mass  might  easily  be  larger  than  the 
earth.  The  eccentricity  of  most  of  them  is  greater  than 
that  of  any  of  the  eight  planets.  The  obliquity  of  the 
planet  Hebe,  is  fourteen  degrees  and  that  of  Pallas  is 
thirty-four  degrees,  the  greatest  yet  discovered.  The  or- 
bits vary  considerably  in  size  and  therefore  the  periodic 
times  are  various;  but  as  they  are  generally  quite  eccen- 
tric, every  one  is  nearer  the  sun  at  perihelion,  than  any 
other  one  is  at  aphelion.  The  orbits  are  therefore  all 
linked  together  and  pass  thru  each  other.  Thus  they  are 
regarded  as  moving  amongst  each  other  around  the  sun 
within  the  limits  of  a  ring,  the  breadth  of  which  in  its 
radius  vector  is  more  than  one  hundred  million  miles. 
Flora,  which  moves  in  the  smallest  orbit  yet  discovered, 
performs  its  revolutions  dn;  three  and  one-fourth  years; 
while  Cybele,  the  most  remote,  requires  six  and  one-half 
years. 


VII. 
MARS. 

Once  more  halfway  to  the  sun  from  the  Asteroids 
we  find  Mars  the  red  planet  of  war.  Having  safely  pass- 
ed the  bursting  point  in  the  procession  of  planets,  it  is 
now  in  the  act  of  cooling  and  forming  its  crust.  It  is 
receiving  its  atmosphere  and  water,  which  its  own  heat 
has  more  than  likely  been  holding  at  a  distance  for  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  years,  since  it  began  to  melt  in  the 
vicinity  of  Jupiter  and  it  is  now  almost  ready  to  produce 
and  support  life,  which  the  laws  of  evolution  will  surely 
bring.  It  has  already  received  its  motions  in  the  great 
mass  of  blue  crystals  which  formed  it  so  many  million 
years  ago  up  on  the  border  of  our  planetary  system.  We 
can  already  see  snow  at  the  poles  of  Mars,  at  such  times 
as  they  are  turned  from  the  sun.  The  winters  are  twice 
as  long  as  our  own;  but  the  fact  that  there  are  only  small 
caps  of  snow  at  the  poles,  where  the  sun  does  not  shine 
for  a  year  at  a  time,  must  convince  us  that  it  is  very  hot 
within  itself.  If  there  was  no  more  heat  in  the  planet 
than  the  earth,  it  should  be  at  least  half  covered  with 
snow  continually;  because  it  is  twice  as  far  from  the  sun 
as  we  are,  and  its  winters  are  twice  as  long.  Its  color 
also  seems  to  indicate  great  heat. 

When  a  planet  melts  of  course  the  friction  of  grind- 

69 


70  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

ing  material  ceases  and  the  generation  of  electric  energy 
or  heat  stops;  then  it  must  at  once  commence  to  cool  by 
the  slow  ^process  of  radiation.  After  millions  of  years 
of  radiation  and  reduction  in  size,  it  would  become  cool 
enough  to  form  a  crust  or  temporary  crusts,  like  thin  ice 


Fig.  11.— The  Planet  Mars,  from  a  drawing  by  Lowell. 

over  a  pond  which  might  become  checked  or  cracked, 
time  after  time,  perhaps.  The  contracting  of  the  cooling 
crust  in  the  early  stages  of  crust  formation  might  cause 
great  crevices  ,  and  these  crevices  give  rise  to  the  many 
speculations  indulged  in  by  astronomers,  concerning  the 
checked  appearance  of  Mars.  Some  astronomers  contend 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  71 

that  Mars  must  be  inhabited  because  these  curious  lines 
look  somewhat  like  irrigation  ditches.  Sir  Kobert  Ball, 
the  English  astronomer,  says  they  are  undoubtedly  arti- 
ficial because  nature  never  makes  straight  lines.  This  is 
a  mistake,  because  nature  always  makes  straight  lines 
when  cooling  or  crystallizing.  Prof.  Baumgardt  of  Los 
Angeles,  in  his  lectures  on  astronomy  shows  a  glass  globe 
which  while  very  hot,  was  suddenly  cooled.  This  globe 
gives  very  much  the  appearance  of  Mars,  being  checkered 
and  cracked  in  straight  lines.  The  earth  seems  to  have 
great  crevices  extending  sometimes  for  hundreds  of  miles. 
There  is  an  apparent  crevice  running  thru  San  Diego 
county,  fifteen  miles  from  northwest  to  southeast,  from 
which  minerals  have  been  deposited  in  the  strata  above. 
This  belt  at  the  surface  is  about  one-half  mile  wide;  and 
whenever  a  ledge  crosses  it,  it  is  mineral  bearing.  The 
shoots  of  ore  on  the  southwest  side  pitch  to  the  northeast 
and  vice  versa,  showing  that  this  crevice  must  be  at  least 
two  thousand  feet  below.  Almost  any  old  prospector  can 
mention  hundreds  of  these  mineral  belts.  Nature  seems 
to  make  curved  lines  only  by  heating  and  straight  lines 
by  cooling. 

The  most  reasonable  explanation  of  the  so-called 
Martian  canals  is  that  they  were  made  by  the  great  rush 
of  water  from  the  polar  regions.  It  is  still  more  reason- 
able when  we  remember  that  the  surface  of  Mars  is  flat 
and  smooth,  not  having  cooled  enough  to  have  raised 
any  mountains.  It  is  receiving  its  water  as  snow  at  its 
poles ;  and  when  this  melts,  of  course,  it  flows  towards  the 
equator  washing  deep  channels  until  it  is  evaporated 


72  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

again  in  the  hot  regions  near  the  equator  into  steam,  to 
again  fall  at  the  poles  as  snow.  Thus  we  can  perceive 
how  these  canals  may  be  made  by  this  endless  round  of 
water,  flowing  but  one  way  in  a  land  which  is  as  yet  al- 
most a  level  plane,  with  probably  little  or  no  crust  form- 
ed at  the  equatorial  regions.  No  doubt  the  planet  is  much 
cooler  than  the  earth  was  at  the  same  position  in  space, 
because  being  so  much  smaller,  it  must  have  cooled  much 
faster  than  the  earth.  Having  cooled  so  much  faster 
on  account  of  its  small  size,  Mars  may  be  in  a  condition 
to  support  life  at  an  earlier  period  or  position  than  the 
earth  was,  provided  the  greater  distance  from  the  sun 
and  the  smaller  amount  of  light  does  not  interfere. 

If  it  is  possible  that,  on  account  of  its  pygmy  size, 
Mars  is  in  advance  of  the  earth  with  regard  to  cooling, 
when  at  the  same  orbital  age,  the  life  forms  it  could  sup- 
port must  still  be  of  a  very  primitive  kind.  There  are  in- 
numerable theories  regarding  Mars  and  the  probability  of 
its  being  inhabited,  but  these  guesses  are  based  on  the 
belief  that  it  is  millions  of  years  older  than  the  earth; 
a  popular  fallacy  without  reasonable  foundation.  The 
density  of  a  planet,  as  of  all  other  natural  formations, 
must  tell  its  age.  It  is  the  work  of  gravity  that  produces 
the  effects  of  age  and  it  is  as  easy  to  observe  the  age  of  a 
planet,  as  of  a  man,  by  simply  looking  at  it.  Moun- 
tains are  the  wrinkles  showing  the  age  of  a  planet,  a 
man  or  any  other  object  of  natural  formation. 

Mars  appears  to  be  a  pygmy  amongst  the  planets 
and  his  moons  are  pygmy  moons,  for  which  there  is  some 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  73 

good  reason  that  mathematicians  should  be  able  to  show. 
There  may  have  been  less  material  within  reach,  when 
Mars  was  being  collected  by  the  force  of  gravity,  or,  the 
planet  comprising  the  Asteroids  may  have,  by  gravity, 
stolen  part  of  the  matter  that  belonged  in  his  belt.  One 
thing  is  quite  evident;  he  was  never  as  large  as  an  ordi- 
nary planet,  because  his  moons  are  pygmies,  proportion- 
ed in  size  to  himself.  Being  so  small  at  the  start,  him- 
self, he  could  only  attract  from  a  narrow  belt  according 
to  the  law  of  gravity  described  by  the  old  maxim,  i  l  Unto 
him  that  hath  shall  be  given  and  to  him  that  hath  not, 
shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath. ' '  If,  away 
out  in  the  regions  of  world-gathering,  little  Mars  should 
be  smaller  than  Asteroid,  outside  of  him,  and  the  earth, 
this  side  of  him,  we  can  readily  see  that  they  would  at- 
tract farther  and  stronger  and  so  rob  him  on  both  sides, 
of  material  that  belonged  in  his  legitimate  zone.  The 
first  life  generated  on  a  cooling  planet  would  be  governed 
by  conditions  and  would  be  plant  life.  From  this  it  must 
slowly  evolve  and  for  millions  of  years  the  poisons  of 
its  low  swamps  and  rotting  vegetation  would  not  permit 
any  higher  types  of  life  than  serpents.  On  our  own  earth 
the  records  in  the  rocks  show  that  even  birds  were  ser- 
pentine during  all  the  first  stages  of  animal  life,  when 
there  were  no  mountains  and  when  vegetation,  aided  in 
its  growth  by  the  inner  heat  of  the  earth,  was  of  such 
enormous  size  and  quantity. 

Almost   all   astronomers,   basing  their  views   on   the 
Nebular  Theory,  believe  the  planet  Mars  to  be  older  than 


74  THE  PROCESSION  OP  PLANETS 

the  earth.  If  however,  the  Processional  Theory  is  correct, 
as  all  the  facts  and  figures  prove,  it  exactly  reverses  the 
order  of  the  age  of  planets,  making  Mars  the  next  young- 
er than  Earth.  The  Processional  Theory  seems  to  afford 
the  only  means  for  accounting  for  many  hitherto  unex- 
plained conditions  such  as,  the  speed  of  light,  sun  spots 
and  explosions,  temperatures  of  the  planets,  shortening  of 
orbits,  the  rings  of  Saturn,  positions  of  the  planets  in  the 
solar  system,  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  the  formation  of 
the  new  star  in  the  constellation  of  Perseus,  Professor 
Lebedu's  "outward  pressure  of  light,"  the  ceaseless 
motion  of  matter,  mental  and  wireless  telegraphy,  the 
reason  Venus  has  no  moons,  how  celestial  bodies  gain 
speed,  how  new  worlds  are  formed,  the  existence  of  "ring 
mountains ' '  on  the  Moon  and  hundreds  of  other  facts  in 
nature,  the  solar  system  and  stellar  universe,  which  no 
other  theory  or  hypothesis  can  explain  and  prove  by  fig- 
ures. No  other  theory  can  explain  why  a  new  planet  just 
forming  in  space,  must  take  the  motion  of  an  orbit  around 
the  sun  from  west  to  east. 

Getting  back  over  the  ground  somewhat,  let  us  look  a 
little  closer  for  more  evidence  that  Mars  is  younger  than 
the  earth:  We  are  quite  sure  that  the  earth  has  at  one 
time  been  a  ball  of  fire  and  thereafter  became  sufficiently 
cooled  to  produce  life.  Now  if  the  earth  were  younger 
than  Mars,  it  would  of  course  be  older  than  Venus;  and 
so  Venus  must  then  be  hotter  than  the  earth  and  Mars 
cooler.  We  actually  find,  however,  that  Venus  is  cooler 
than  the  earth  (which  certainly  proves  it  to  be  older)  and 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  75 

that  Mars  is  hotter  than  the  earth,  which  also  proves  it 
to  be  younger.  As  a  molten  planet  cools  it  must  form  a 
crust;  and  as  the  crust  thickens,  the  planet  contracts  and 
mountains  necessarily  rise  upon  the  surface.  They  could 
not  do  so  on  a  planet  that  had  no  crust,  nor  on  a 
planet  with  a  very  thin  crust.  What,  then,  is  evi- 
dent when  we  compare  these  three  planets  in  respect 
to  mountains!  First,  we  find  Mars,  141,000,000  miles 
from  the  sun,  with  absolutely  no  mountains;  almost  a 
level  plane  with  the  exception  of  what  are  called  its 
inland  seas.  It  has  not  and  can  have  no  large  in- 
land seas  until  its  crust  is  thick  enough  to  contract  and 
form  mountains  and  its  water  can  fall  to  the  surface  and 
gather  into  large  bodies.  Next  we  find  the  earth  (93,000,- 
000  miles  from  the  sun)  with  mountains  as  high  as  30,- 
000  feet  and  a  crust  not  yet  thick  enough  to  confine  all 
its  inside  molten  matter.  Its  oceans  are  connected  around 
its  entire  sphere.  Next  we  find  Venus  (65,000,000  miles 
from  the  sun)  with  mountains  estimated  by  fairly  correct 
measurements  of  their  shadows,  to  be  142,000  feet  in 
height.  How  could  these  three  conditions  exist  if  Venus 
was  younger  than  the  earth,  and  the  earth  younger  than 
Mars!  They  could  not.  If  the  earth  were  gradually  be- 
coming hotter,  then  this  would  be  the  case;  but  every- 
thing goes  to  prove,  and  all  science  agrees  that  from  a 
molten  state,  millions  of  years  ago,  it  has  cooled  to  its 
present  degree  of  density. 

Mars  also  shows  by  melting  of  its  snow  so  quickly 
after  its  long  winter,  that  it  is  much  hotter  than  the  earth. 
It  has  but  one-fifth  as  much  sunlight  as  we  have  on  the 


76  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

earth  and  its  winters  are  twice  as  long  as  ours ;  yet  for  all 
this,  we  find  but  small  caps  of  snow  at  its  winter  poles,  as, 
alternately,  each  is  turned  from  the  sun  for  a  whole  year. 
This  condition  could  not  be,  if  its  crust  were  not  thin  and 
*  its  molten  matter  near  the  surface.  No  doubt  if  Mars 
were  a  full  sized  planet,  it  would  still  be  almost,  if  not 
entirely  devoid  of  crust;  but  being  so  small,  it  has  actu- 
ally cooled  faster  than  it  would  have  done,  if  of  the  usual 
size.  In  the  cooling  of  the  Asteroids  we  see  the  same 
principles  illustrated  and  worked  out.  (The  number  of 
moons  of  this  and  other  planets,  is  another  important 
factor  bearing  on  this  matter  of  proof,  which  will  be  con- 
sidered in  another  chapter.) 

The  very  color  of  Mars,  indicates  recent  heat.  It  is 
of  an  ocher  or  burned  brick  color.  The  "red  planet  of 
war"  being  so  much  younger  than  the  earth  as  to  have  not 
yet  raised  a  mountain  range,  could  not  very  well  produce 
other  than  a  low  order  of  vegetable  life  forms  from  which 
all  higher  life  must  evolve  during  the  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  years  required  to  reduce  its  orbit  to  the  size  of 
Earth's  orbit,  at  which  time  its  internal  heat  will  have 
become  so  radiated  that  it  may  have  a  thick  crust,  moun- 
tain ranges,  open  seas,  plenty  of  sunlight,  seasons  the 
length  of  our  own  and  other  conditions  necessary  to 
sustain  human  and  other  life  as  we  have  upon  the  earth 
now. 

Light  signals  coming  from  the  earth  could  never  be 
seen  at  Mars  even  if  it  were  possible  for  the  planet  to 
support  human  beings  capable  of  speaking  the  English 
language  and  using  as  good  astronomical  instruments  as 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


77 


we  use  on  earth.    This  has  been  shown  by  Prof.  Larkin 
of  Mt.  Lowe. 

In  the  cut  we  represent  Mars  in  four  positions  in  his 
orbit  around  the  sun  and  showing  his  nearest  approach 
to  the  earth  (47,000,000  miles)  which  happens  when  both 
planets  are  on  the  same  side  of  the  sun.  At  this  time  the 


Fig.  12. 


dark  side  of  the  earth  is  presented  to  Mars  when  it  is 
midday  at  Mars.  This  gives  but  little  chance  that  any 
possible  inhabitants  of  Mars  could  receive  signals  from 
the  earth.  Conditions  at  other  times  are  almost  the  same 
except  that  the  two  planets  are  farther  from  each  other; 
the  greatest  distance  being  237,000,000  miles  when  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  sun.  Mars  does,  however,  exhibit 


78  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

small  phases  at  2  and  4,  supposing  the  earth  should  re- 
main at  the  position  in  the  cut.  Such  conditions  occur 
but  a  short  time  twice  a  year;  so,  we  can  but  rarely  get 
a  glimpse  of  a  small  portion  of  the  dark  side. 

As  Mars  revolves  in  an  orbit  outside  of  the  earth's 
orbit,  it  can  come  into  opposition  to  the  sun,  as  well  as 
into  conjunction  with  it;  appearing  at  every  degree  from 
0  to  180. 

Mars  is  blessed  with  two  moons;  Demis  the  largest 
is  12,900  miles  from  the  planet's  surface,  while  Phobus, 
the  innermost,  is  but  3,000  miles  distant;  and  makes  a  rev- 
olution around  the  planet  in  seven  and  one-half  hours, 
or  three  times  while  Mars  is  turning  once  on  its  axis. 
For  that  reason  Phobus  has  the  distinction  of  rising  in 
the  west  and  setting  in  the  east.  Both  these  moons  are 
dead  moons,  having  turned  their  magnetic  poles  to  the 
planet.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  within  a 
few  centuries,  this  little  satellite,  Phobus,  will  have  ended 
his  long  journey  by  plunging  thru  the  thin  crust,  into 
the  molten  matter  of  Mars;  or,  by  attaining  such  a  swift 
speed  that  centrifugal  force,  opposing  the  force  of  grav- 
ity, will  take  away  his  own  center  of  gravity  and  allow 
him  to  disintegrate  into  a  belt  or  ring  of  meteors  which 
will  gradually  fall  to  his  surface  or  be  burned  in  his 
atmosphere.  A  perceptible  shortening  of  his  orbit  should 
be  measured  in  a  few  decades. 

The  discovery  of  the  moons  of  Mars  was  predicted 
by  Voltaire,  Kepler  and  Swift,  who  calculate  the  ratio  of 
moons  from  Saturn  to  Venus.  The  number  of  moons  fol- 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  79 

lowing  a  planet,  makes,  of  itself,  a  most  interesting  study, 
well  calculated  to  set  an  inquiring  mind  at  work  in  earn- 
est, when  considered  in  connection  with  the  Processional 
Theory.  The  further  and  still  more  astonishing  fact,  that 
they  always  obey  the  same  law  of  ratio,  both  as  to  ap- 
proach and  speed,  that  the  planets  show,  in  approaching 
the  sun,  gives  another  volume  of  evidence  to  still  more 
overwhelmingly  prove  the  law  of  a  procession  of  planets 
to  be  correct. 


vin. 

THE  EARTH. 


The  next  planet,  also  in  its  proper  place,  halfway 
between  Mars  and  the  sun,  is  our  own  Mother  Earth, 
perhaps  in  the  very  prime  of  her  motherhood.  Prof. 
Isaac  N.  Vail,  in  his  excellent  work,  The  Story  of  the 
Rocks,  gives  both  Saturn  and  Jupiter  younger  dates  than 
the  earth.  He  does  not  attempt  to  show  why,  or  give 
reasons  for  the  position  in  space,  but  goes  on  to  show  and 
give  proofs  that,  long  eons  ago,  the  earth  has  passed  the 
stages  thru  which  they  are  passing  now. 

Altho  the  earth  is  only  half  as  far  from  the  sun  as 
Mars,  and  the  winters  only  half  as  long,  it  has  many  times 
more  snow  at  its  winter  poles.  The  snow  sometimes 
reaches  its  tropical  lines,  covering  the  temperate  and 
frigid  zones,  while  Mars  has  only  a  small  cap  of  snow 
around  its  Artie  and  Antartic  circles  during  winters 
twice  as  long  as  ours.  This  proves  beyond  the  posibility 
of  a  doubt  that  Mars  has  much  more  internal  heat  than 
the  earth. 

That  the  earth  has  been  much  hotter  than  it  is  now, 
is  plainly  shown  by  the  historical  records  which  nature 
and  time  have  faithfully  written  upon  the  rocks  of  its 

80 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  81 

crust,  without  sentiment,  fear  or  favor.  (Reference  may 
be  had  to  any  good  geology  or  encyclopedia,  as  there  is 
no  disagreement  among  scientists  upon  this  point.)  It 
is  evident  by  the  construction  of  the  fire  rocks,  that  at 
the  time  they  were  first  hardened,  there  was  no  water 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  No  doubt  it  was  held  suspended 
or  pushed  up  to  a  certain  distance  in  the  form  of  vapor, 
by  the  force  of  heat  and  that  it  fell  only  after  the  force 
of  heat  had  sufficiently  subsided  to  make  it  possible  for 
the  force  of  gravity  to  condense  it  and  bring  it  down,  first 
at  the  winter  poles  where  the  force  of  heat  was  the  weak- 
est. Professor  VaiPs  Annual  Theory  of  the  falling  of 
snows  and  vapors  first  at  the  poles  would  not  be  in  oppo- 
sition, therefore,  to  nature  and  would  be  in  line  with  the 
Processional  Theory  which,  after  the  old  and  new  laws 
governing  it  have  all  been  examined  in  every  part  and  de- 
tail, presents  such  a  perfect  chain  of  evidence  of  its  truth. 
Another  fact  proving  the  previously  molten  condi- 
tion of  the  earth  is  that  in  very  deep  mines  there  is  a 
regular  increase  of  temperature  from  the  surface  down- 
ward. This  seems  to  be  almost  universal  testimony 
wherever  men  have  sunk  shafts  or  bored  wells  to  great 
depths.  In  some  mines  it  is  almost  impossible  to  perform 
labor  on  account  of  the  heat.  There  are  many  other 
reasons  for  believing  the  earth  has  been  a  molten  mass; 
mountain  ranges  are  caused  by  its  contraction  as  the 
cooling  process  goes  on  and  the  great  mountain  ranges 
or  "  wrinkles "  seen  near  almost  every  coast  line  show 
where  the  weight  of  waters  gathered  in  oceans  and  seas, 
assist  in  pressing  the  crust  into  these  wrinkles  or  ranges. 


82  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

In  volcanoes  we  find  another  proof.  Many  hundreds  of 
these  in  various  parts  of  the  earth  still  act  as  vent  holes 
or  safety  valves  opening  down  into  the  molten  center  to 
allow  the  escape  of  gases  and  liquid  lava  when  the  cool- 
ing and  contracting  increases  the  pressure  on  the  molten 
mass.  Yet,  with  all  these  safety  openings,  when  Mother 
Earth  shivers  and  draws  her  blanket  closer  over  her 
shoulders,  while  hastening  onward  toward  the  sun  from 
which  she  came,  thousands  of  lives  are  lost  in  the  topp- 


Fig.  13.    Grand  Canyon  of  the  Co! o  rad  6  j  show-rag1  st 
feet  thick. 

ling  buildings  erected  by  man,  and  other  thousands  are 
buried  beneath  the  lava  forced  out  in  the  volcanic  regions, 
by  the  closer  pressing  crust. 

Judging  by  the  time  it  has  taken  the  sedimentary  rocks 
to  form  and  by  the  depth  of  the  drift  covering  the  first 
implements  showing  the  handiwork  of  man,  the  very 
earliest  and  most  crude  human-like  creatures  could  not 
have  existed  more  than  a  few  hundred  thousand  years 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  83 

ago.  If  the  record  of  the  stars  could  have  been  kept  from 
the  very  birth  of  man's  intellect  to  the  present  time, 
there  would  probably  be  very  little  perceptible  change  in 
them  so  vast  is  the  difference  between  400,000,000  years, 
the  estimated  time  between  the  birth  of  planets  and 
100,000  years  the  estimated  time  since  human  life  began 
on  the  earth. 

There  are  many  treatises  on  what  is  usually  known  as 
the  glacial  epoch,  that  would  make  profitable  reading 
for  the  student  who  would  follow  it  and  study  the  Pro- 
cessional Theory.  Among  the  best  of  these,  perhaps,  is 
the  work  of  Prof.  John  Fiske,  called  the  "Journeys  of 
an  Evolutionist,"  and  various  other  works  referred  to 
by  him.  The  glacial  epoch  was  undoubtedly  caused  by 
the  cooling  of  the  earth  first  at  the  poles,  where  it  was 
coldest  and  where  it  was  in  darkness  of  winter  twelve 
months  instead  of  six  as  now.  When  the  earth  was 
near  or  where  Mars  is  now,  the  water  if  there  was  any, 
first  made  its  appearance  as  snow  in  the  winter  months 
and  as  rain  in  the  summer  months.  No  doubt  when  one 
of  these  long  winters  broke  up  and  the  winter  pole  was 
again  turned  towards  the  sun  for  a  year,  the  sun's  heat, 
assisted  by  the  internal  fires  would  cause  a  melting  of 
snow  and  rushing  of  waters  to  the  south,  a  filling  of 
canals  and  hissing  of  steam  as  it  hurried  on  toward  the 
equatorial  regions.  We  point  to  Mars  as  proof  of  this 
altho  as  we  have  already  shown,  Mars  on  account  of  its 
small  size,  must  be  considerably  in  advance  of  an  ordi- 
nary sized  planet  in  cooling. 

The  reason  why  a  celestial  body  moves  at  all,  is  be- 
cause it  is  falling  towards  its  superior.  This  can  be 


84  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

easily  shown  by  the  motion  of  every  satellite,  planet, 
comet,  sun  or  other  celestial  body.  In  the  case  of  the 
earth  we  see  it  varies  in  speed  at  different  partions  of 
its  orbit,  falling  faster  when  nearest  the  sun.  When 
passing  from  the  vernal  equinox  to  aphelion,  the  far- 
thest point  from  the  sun,  the  attraction  of  the  sun  tends 
to  check  its  speed;  from  that  point  to  the  autumnal 
equinox,  the  attraction  being  in  the  direction  of  its  mo- 
tion, the  velocity  is  increased.  The  same  principle  ap- 
plies when  going  to  and  from  perihelion,  the  point  nearest 
to  the  sun. 

It  is  perfectly  simple  that  every  direction  from  the 
sun  is  up,  until  that  part  of  space  is  reached  where  some 
other  sun  would  be  nearer  or  larger  and  so  have  u  great- 
er pulling  force  or  attraction;  except,  locally  at  planets 
or  satellites  that  have  their  own  temporary  centers  of 
gravity  while  on  their  way  around  and  to  their  supe- 
riors. The  law  of  gravity  discovered  by  Newton,  should 
prove  to  any  person  of  intelligence,  that  tha  sun  being 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  times  larger  than  any  one  of 
its  family  of  planets,  must  have  the  superior  attraction 
and  the  fact  that  the  planets  travel  around  it  in  an  orbit, 
also  shows  that  at  any  and  every  point  in  their  orbits, 
it  is  drawing  them  towards  it  which  necessarily  makes  it 
down  from  every  point  of  the  orbit  of  a  body  traveling 
or  falling  around  it.  If  the  planets  were  not  falling  to- 
ward the  sun,  they  would  stop.  There  is  absolutely  no 
other  force  to  make  them  travel.  Instead  of  stopping 
they  continually  increase  their  speed  as  they  near  the 
sun.  This  we  prove  by  comparing  the  speed  of  Neptune, 
250,000  miles  per  day,  with  the  speed  of  Mercury;  Mer- 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  85 

cury  in  its  fall  has  gained  ten  times  the  speed  it  had 
when  at  Neptune's  orbit;  and  now  travels  at  the  rate  of 
2,500,000  miles  per  day.  More  than  this,  each  planet 
from  Neptune  to  the  sun  travels  faster  at  a  regular  ratio 
exactly  in  proportion  as  it  approaches  the  sun.  (See  table 
showing  each  planet,  its  distance  from  the  sun  and  its 
speed  along  its  orbit.) 

The  same  law  applies  to  the  satellites  of  which  a  planet 
is  a  temporary  center.  Locally,  of  course,  the  center  of 
the  earth  is  down;  at  least  as  far  out  into  space  as  the 
moon's  orbit  and  we  know  the  people  on  the  other  side 
of  the  earth  stand  with  their  feet  down  which  is  with 
the  soles  toward  our  feet  when  standing.  The  sun,  how- 
ever is  1,300,000  times  as  large  as  the  earth ;  therefore  the 
earth 's  local  center  of  gravity  is  a  small  space  when  com- 
pared with  the  center  of  gravity  for  the  whole  solar 
system.  See  diagram. 

There  is  another  sure  proof  that  the  planets  fall  to- 
ward the  sun  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  down  from  all  the 
planets.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  cut  showing  an  ex- 
aggerated eliptic  orbit  of  the  earth  around  the  sun  and 
which  takes  us  3,000,000  miles  nearer  the  sun  at  one  end 
of  its  orbit  (perihelion),  than  at  the  other  end  or  aphel- 
ion. When  the  earth  is  at  the  farthest  end  of  its  orbit, 
it  is  traveling  at  its  lowest  rate  of  speed,  because  it  has 
left  the  sun  3,000,000  miles  farther  than  at  perihelion  or, 
gone  3,000,000  miles  farther  up.  Then  as  it  travels  the 
next  six  months  back  to  the  perihelion  it  has  neared  or 
fallen  towards  the  sun  3,000,000  miles,  gaining  speed  ac- 
cordingly. When  it  passes  its  perihelion  it  is  gradually 
going  away  from  the  sun  for  six  months,  and  so  travels 


§6  THE  PROCESSION  OF 

slower  and  slower,  just  as  a  ball  thrown  into  the  air  does 
until  it  reaches  the  perihelion  curve,  turns  and  begins  to 
fall.  All  these  proofs  of  a  real  up  and  down  in  the 
solar  system  are  shown  by  time,  speed,  length  of  orbits 
and  proved  by  figures. 


Figr.  14 

The  Radius  Vector  is  the  three  lines  in  the  cut  rep- 
resented by  S  A  and  S  C  and  S  E.  When  the  earth 
has  passed  from  A  to  B,  the  Radius  Vector  has  passed 
over  the  dark  space  S  A  B  in  exactly  the  same  time  that 
it  passes  over  the  dark  spaces  S  C  D  and  S  E  F.  The 
area  covered  by  the  three  dark  spaces  is  exactly  the  same ; 
and  the  time  in  passing  from  A  to  B,  C  to  D  and  E  to  F 
are  exactly  the  same  times.  These  facts  and  figures  are 
absolute  proofs  that  out  or  away  from  the  sun  is  up  to 
any  part  of  the  solar  system  and  towards  the  sun  is 
down  from  any  part  of  the  solar  system. 

As  to  the  inequalities  as  represented  by  the  height  of 
mountains  and  depth  of  valleys,  they  are  in  about  the 
same  proportion  to  the  earth's  size  as  the  inequalities  in 


THE  PBOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  87 

the  skin  of  an  orange  are  to  the  orange.  On  a  globe 
sixteen  inches  in  diameter  the  earth's  crust  could  be  rep- 
resented by  ordinary  wrapping  paper. 

That  the  earth  is  a  sphere  is  proven  in  a  number  of 
ways:  (1).  All  the  celestial  bodies  that  we  can  see  are 
spheres  and  it  is  improbable  that  the  earth  is  an  excep- 
tion; (2)  when  the  shadow  of  the  earth  falls  upon  the 
moon  during  an  eclipse,  it  is  round;  (3)  vessels  have  sail- 
ed around  the  earth;  (4)  when  a  ship  is  sailing  into  port, 
the  masts  come  in  sight  first;  (5)  the  horizon  expands  as 
we  climb  a  mountain  or  ascend  in  an  airship;  (6)  the 
polar  star  is  higher  as  we  travel  north,  and,  (7)  if  we 
climb  a  very  high  mountain  that  is  in  sight  of  the  sea, 
we  can  see  the  curvature  of  the  surface  of  the  sea.  Some 
theorists  and  speculators  still  suppose  the  earth  is  flat, 
some  suppose  it  to  be  hollow  and  that  we  reside  on  the 
concave  surface  of  the  inside.  The  main  argument  of 
the  latter  is,  that  when  a  ship  goes  out  of  sight  on  the 
water,  it  may  be  brought  back  to  the  sight  by  using  the 
telescope.  This,  if  true,  is  caused  by  refraction  of  the 
rays  of  light  by  the  atmosphere  and  is  easily  demon- 
strated. 


IX. 
VENUS. 

The  next  planet  toward  the  sun,  in  the  same  ratio  and 
about  half  way  from  Sun  to  Earth  is  our  very  nearest 
neighbor,  Venus.  In  size  it  is  about  the  same  as  Earth 
and  no  doubt  during  the  past  400,000,000  years,  or  a  part 
of  that  time,  has  sustained  life;  more  than  likely  human 
life.  We  can  produce  no  reason  to  believe  the  material 
of  which  Venus  was  made  was  different  from  the  ma- 
terial from  which  the  earth  and  all  other  planets  are 
made.  This  being  the  case,  the  conditions  would  be  the 
same,  and  so,  at  the  same  distance  from  the  sun,  nature 
using  the  same  material,  under  the  same  conditions,  would 
probably  evolve  the  same  kind  of  life,  both  in  plants 
and  animals.  If,  then,  in  our  solar  system  there  is  an- 
other planet  supporting  life,  it  must  be  Venus;  but  the 
probabilities  are  that  the  time  has  long  since  passed, 
when  conditions  were  favorable  to  any  kind  of  organic 
life. 

There  is  now  some  well  established  doubt  about  Venus 
rotating  upon  her  axis  in  the  same  time  as  the  earth; 
and  it  is  claimed  by  many  astronomers  that  she  rotates 
but  once  on  her  axis  during  her  entire  orbit  around  the 
sun;  i.  e.,  that  she  is  held  with  one  face  to  the  sun  con- 
tinually. If  this  is  proven  to  be  true,  then  she  is  already 
a  dead  world;  and  we  could  not  hope  to  find  life,  either 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  89 

upon  the  side  under  the  eternal  blaze  of  the  sun,  or  upon 
the  side  in  everlasting  cold  and  darkness.  Venus  is  but 
a  few  hundred  miles  less  in  diameter  than  the  earth ;  and 
when  the  two  planets  are  on  the  same  side  of  the  sun, 
they  are  only  27,000,000  miles  apart;  so,  by  means  of 
better  telescopes,  other  instruments,  and  photography, 
we  may  yet  be  able  to  become  better  acquainted  with  our 
nearest  neighbor,  even  during  the  present  century.  Some 
time,  so  far  in  the  future  that  it  is  of  little  concern  to  us 
now,  except  to  help  us  to  understand  our  present  sur- 
roundings, the  earth  will  have  reached  the  position  of 
Venus;  at  that  time,  if  there  is  a  living  creature  upon 
our  planet,  we  may  confidently  trust  it  will  be  the  animal 
man  whose  brain  power  will  enable  him  to  conform  to 
and  provide  against  the  changing  conditions.  Accord- 
ing to  the  same  reasoning  it  is  possible  that  human  life 
still  remains  on  Venus;  but  it  is  not  possible  that  it  has 
yet  commenced  on  Mars. 

Venus  receives  five  times  as  much  light  from  the  sun  as 
the  earth  does;  and  if  the  atmosphere  of  Venus  is  very 
dense,  the  friction  caused  by  the  passage  of  light  thru 
it,  would  greatly  increase  the  heat.  Some  astronomers 
consider  the  brightness  of  Venus  due  to  a  metallic  luster 
received  from  the  heat  of  the  sun.  If  the  planet  keeps 
but  one  face  to  the  sun,  it  would  certainly  become  greatly 
heated.  This  is  made  manifest  on  our  own  great  deserts. 
In  Death  Valley,  during  fourteen  hours  of  sunshine,  the 
sand  becomes  so  hot  that  it  will  cook  eggs. 

The  orbital  time  of  Venus  around  the  sun  is  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  days  or  one  hundred  and  forty  days 
less  than  that  of  our  own  planet.  The  diameter  of  Venus 


90  THE  PKOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

is  7700  miles.  Its  inner  heat  being  gone,  the  crust  has 
very  likely  taken  all  the  water;  as  the  crust  of  our  own 
planet  is  doing  so  rapidly  as  it  cools  and  condenses.  The 
dense  atmosphere  of  Venus  that  may  be  made  up  of  the 
poisonous  gases  left  by  the  inhabitants  after  their  busy 
life  (speaking  collectively)  of  400,000,000  years,  is  like  a 
pall  to  hide  her  dead  past  from  us;  therefore  little  is 
known  of  her  surface.  One  of  her  mysteries  would  be 
solved  and  the  solution  of  the  working  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem be  made  easier,  if  we  could  find,  upon  the  surface  of 
Venus  evidence  of  her  last  moon.  According  to  the 
proper  procession  herein  demonstrated,  her  last  moon 
should  have  fallen  when  she  was  near  her  present  posi- 
tion; very  likely  since  she  was  devoid  of  animal  and 
plant  life,  when  of  course,  the  cooling  and  condensing 
had  made  the  crust  hundreds  of  miles  in  thickness.  In 
case  it  fell  when  the  crust  was  in  this  condition  we  should 
be  able  to  find  some  signs  of  it,  especially  if  it  was  any 
thing  like  our  own  moon  in  size,  which  is  2163  miles  in 
diameter.  No  doubt  so  large  a  solid  body  would  break  up 
entirely,  but  in  the  absence  of  water,  so  large  a  mass 
should  be  visible  in  some  direction.  If  the  orbit  of  the 
last  moon  of  Venus  was  about  the  same  when  Venus  was 
at  our  orbit,  it  would  perhaps  take  three-fourths  of  the 
time  to  her  present  orbit,  for  it  to  reach  the  planet  and 
it  would  be  gaining  speed  all  that  time. 

Our  own  moon  is  but  239,000  miles  from  the  earth  and 
has  gained  four  times  its  diameter  in  speed  since  the 
first  recorded  eclipses.  When  the  last  moon  of  Venus 
finally  reached  the  planet,  we  can  imagine  the  commo- 
tion it  would  make  in  passing  around;  and  there  can  be 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  91 

no  doubt  that  it  would  break  up  into  fragments  after, 
perhaps,  rolling  around  the  planet  a  few  times.  If  all 
this  happened  as  it  must  have  done,  let  us  imagine  the 
final  condition  of  the  moon  and  planet.  Both  would 
probably  be  cooled  to  the  center.  Certainly  the  moon 
would  be  entirely  cooled  and  Venus  would  have  a  crust 
so  thick  that  it  could  not  be  broken  thru.  The  only  nat- 


Fig  15.— The  moon  as  seen  from  the  earth  with  the  naked  eye. 

ural  conclusion  is  then,  that  the  moon  would  be  broken 
into  fragments.  If  so,  there  would  be  evidence  of  these 
fragments  and  also  gorges  and  disfigurements  of  suffi- 
cient size  to  be  revealed  by  the  telescope.  First  it  might 
naturally  be  supposed,  that  it  would  roll  around  the 
planet  at  or  near  the  equator,  perhaps  many  times.  There 
is,  however,  no  evidence  of  any  such  disaster  and  the 
mountains  of  Venus  are  about  the  height  they  should  be 


92  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

and  should  be  on  the  earth  400,000,000  years  hence  after 
it  becomes  cool,  almost  or  quite  to  the  center.  The  moun- 
tains of  Venus  are  estimated  by  some  astronomers  to 
reach  the  height  of  160,000  feet.  Lockyer's  "Elements  of 
Astronomy,"  note  265,  says: 

Spots  have  been  observed  on  its  surface;  and  in  irregularities  in 
the  terminator  (shadow  line)  which  are  supposed  to  indicate  lofty 
mountains,  in  some  cases  exceeding  twenty  miles  in  height. 

Other  astronomers  estimate  them  to  be  as  high  as 
twenty  seven  miles  or  142,500  feet.  The  evidence,  there- 
fore, points  to  the  fact  of  its  last  moon  having  fallen  as 
rings,  in  the  same  way  as  we  believe  a  moon  is  now  fall- 
ing upon  Saturn  as  shown  in  a  preceding  chapter.  Such 
falling  might  in  part  account  for  the  dense  atmosphere. 

One  of  the  popular  fallacies  for  sensational  publication 
is  that  the  celestial  bodies  contain  great  stores  of  won- 
derful unknown  substances  or  are  composed  of  diamonds, 
other  valuable  stones  and  precious  metals.  The  fact  is, 
however,  that  they  are  undoubtedly  composed  of  the 
same  material  as  the  earth,  having  had  the  same  origin, 
but,  that  at  different  stages  of  their  existence,  these 
metals  and  substances  are  in  different  forms  or  elements. 
Sometimes  they  are  solid,  sometimes  they  are  liquids, 
sometimes  gases  and  sometimes  separated  elements;  but 
as  they  pass  any  given  point  on  their  way  to  the  sun, 
their  conditions  are,  perhaps,  almost  identical.  Such 
facts  as  are  well  known,  considered  with  good  judgment, 
will  not  permit  us  to  think  otherwise. 


X. 

MERCURY. 

Next,  and  still  in  the  same  decreasing  ratio,  from  the 
sun  half  way  to  Venus,  comes  Mercury,  still  smaller  and 
more  dense;  a  world  worn  out  and  almost  ready  for  the 
funeral  fire  which  will  finally  add  it  to  our  monster  par- 
ent. A  dead  world,  like  our  dead  moon  keeping  but  one 
face  to  the  sun,  while  it  is  being  gradually  dragged  in, 
within  reach  of  those  great  tongues  of  fire,  reaching  out 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles  for  material  to  keep  them 
forever  burning.  Mercury  has  neither  air  nor  water;  and 
can  be  of  no  further  use  to  nature,  except  to  become  fire- 
wood; donate  its  remains  to  the  great  central  engine  of 
our  solar  system,  to  be  rejuvenated  by  the  purifying  dis- 
solution and  expansion  by  heat,  again  sent  out  as  gas  to 
the  remote  regions  of  space  and  again  converted  into 
material  to  form  or  help  form  a  new  world. 

Mercury  is  36,000,000  miles  from  the  sun  at  aphelion; 
at  perihelion,  its  nearest  approach  is  28,000,000  miles; 
and  at  such  times  the  sun's  heat  upon  it  is  twelve  times 
as  great  as  upon  our  earth.  On  the  average  it  is  seven 
times  as  great.  All  this  blazing  sunlight  comes  to  but 
one  side  of  the  planet  and  must  convert  that  side  into  a 
bake  oven,  while  the  opposite  side  is  in  continual  dark- 
ness. A  dead  moon  has  a  change  of  day  and  night,  be- 
cause its  magnetic  pole  is  turned  toward  its  planet;  a 

93 


94  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

dead  planet  turns  its  magnetic  pole  to  the  sun  itself,  and 
therefore  can  have  no  change  of  day  or  night,  or  change 
of  seasons. 

Every  planet,  satellite  or  particle  of  matter  in  the  uni- 
verse, be  that  particle  a  planet  like  Jupiter,  or  a  micro- 
scoipc  atom  of  dust,  seems  to  have  its  north  and  south 
magnetic  pole.  This  motion  or  guiding  force,  may  be 
and  probably  is  a  part  of  the  force  of  gravity.  There  are 
attracting  and  repelling  motions  in  nature  which  we  par- 
tially recognize,  fail  to  explain,  even  deny  in  many  cases, 
but  which  science  must  now  recognize  and  set  about  to 
explain.  These  motions  are  most  manifest  in  the  mag- 
netic needle  and  the  common  magnet.  They  are  consid- 
ered very  mysterious;  but  there  is  no  force  in  nature  that 
cannot  be  found  out  and  understood  when  we  drop  the 
idea  of  mystery,  because  force  in  nature  is  a  part  of 
nature;  and  all  force  in  nature  (as  I  have  already  shown) 
is  made  either  by  expanding  by  heat  or  contracting  by 
cold ;  and  no  motion  can  be  made  any  other  way.  These 
forces  are  directly  related  to  the  forces  in  the  magnet  and 
may  therefore  be  easily  explained  when  we  find  what 
causes  the  forces  in  the  magnet. 

Let  us  examine  the  magnet.  First  we  subject  it  to 
great  heat  and  find  it  has  then  lost  all  its  so-called  magic 
power.  For  the  time  being  it  has  lost  its  mystery;  and  if 
we  will  follow  this  clew,  it  will  lose  its  mystery  for  all 
time.  If  heat  destroys  magnetism,  that  fact  alone  proves 
that  it  is  not  a  force  of  heat  (expansion) ;  and,  as  there 
is  but  one  other  cause  of  motion  (contraction  by  cooling) 
it  must  be  a  motion  of  contraction  or  cooling.  Even  our 
own  great  sun  has  its  north  and  south  pole  pointing  in 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  95 

the  same  direction  and  seems  to  be  attracted  by,  or  paral- 
lel to  some  great  center  of  gravity,  or  community  of  in- 
terests entirely  outside  of  the  solar  system  toward 
which  its  magnetic  pole  points  or  parallels,  until  it 
reaches  a  point  near  enough  its  present  center  of  conver- 
gence to  be  attracted  thereto. 

When  a  planet  nears  the  sun,  or  a  moon  nears  its  planet, 
the  smaller  body  turns  one  of  its  poles  to  the  larger, 
just  as  a  needle  points  to  a  near-by  compass.  Altho  the 
magnetic  pole  of  the  earth  is  millions  of  times  greater 
than  the  compass,  yet  the  compass  is  millions  of  times 
nearer  to  the  needle.  This  explains  what  has  happened 
to  Mercury;  Mercury  and  the  sun  are  one  magnetically. 

If  the  time  ever  comes  when  we  can  examine  the  solar 
systems  of  other  suns,  by  means  of  larger  telescopes  or 
new  methods,  they  will  be  found  to  be  operating  on  the 
same  principles  and  under  the  same  laws  governing  our 
own  solar  system;  and  that  the  dead  planets  and  moons 
are  guided  by  the  same  kind  of  magnetic  force  that  gov- 
erns our  own. 

Like  our  Earth  and  Moon,  Mercury  travels  around 
the  sun  in  an  ellipse;  increasing  its  speed  when  near  ing 
the  sun  and  decreasing  again  when  receding  on  the  op- 
posite curve.  This  proves  that  a  planet  increases  its 
speed  when  it  falls  toward  the  sun;  and  that  there  is  no 
other  force  in  nature  that  can  give  a  celestial  body  a 
speed,  that  not  only  lasts,  but  that  continually  increases 
as  it  falls  toward  its  center.  There  is  no  mystery  about 
it;  from  every  planet,  toward  the  sun  is  down;  and  from 
the  sun  is  up;  so,  as  Mercury  is  falling  toward  the  sun, 
by  nearing  it  in  its  orbit,  we  see  it  also  increase  its  speed. 


96  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

By  examining  Mercury  with  a  telescope,  we  find  it  to 
be  so  near  the  sun  that  the  sunlight  interferes;  so  there 
is  little  hope  of  ever  making  any  discoveries  on  its  sur- 
face until  new  methods  and  better  instruments  are  in- 
vented. 


XI. 
THE  INNER  ASTEROIDS. 

According  to  the  ratio  governing  the  distance  of  plan- 
ets from  the  sun  there  is  room  for,  and  should  be  at  least 
one  more  small  planet  between  Mercury  and  the  sun. 
According  to  the  self-evident  facts  developed  in  the  Pro- 
cessional Theory,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  this  missing 
planet  is  another  case  of  Asteroids;  a  planet  which  for 
some  cause  has  been  disentegrated  and  formed  a  stream 
of  fragments  in  the  planet's  orbit.  There  are  many 
reasons  for  believing  this  to  be  the  case.  One  is,  there 
is  no  planet  where  there  should  be  one  and  a  still  better 
one  is  that  vast  bodies  of  material  (as  already  shown) 
are  continually  falling  into  the  sun,  exploding  into  gas, 
showing  great  black  holes,  sometimes  thousands  of  miles 
in  diameter  and  splashing  firey  fluids  tens  of  thousands 
of  miles  in  height. 

An  observation  taken  March  26,  1859,  by  L.  Leverrier, 
is  said  to  have  revealed  a  small  planet  crossing  the  sun's 
disk  about  13,000,000  miles  from  the  sun.  It  was  named 
Vulcan ;  and,  for  many  years  was  supposed  to  exist.  The 
greatest  modern  telescopes  of  today,  however,  even  with 
the  aid  of  spectroscopic  photographs,  fail  to  disclose  any 
such  planet.  In  case  there  was  such  a  planet  there  at 
that  time,  it  must  since  have  disintegrated  into  small 

97 


98  THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

particles  that  can  be  seen  only  as  a  part  of  the  Zodiacal 
Light. 

As  a  planet  nears  the  sun  and  increases  its  speed,  cen- 
trifugal force  must  greatly  increase  also;  and  there  must 
come  a  point  at  which  its  centrifugal  force  outward  from 
the  sun  and  its  gravity  for  the  sun,  would  be  so  nearly 
balanced  that  any  expansion  by  air  or  water,  would 
overcome  what  little  center  of  gravity  it  might  have  left ; 
then  it  would  be  left  without  a  center  of  gravity  and  be- 
come disintegrated.  When  once  it  went  to  pieces  it 
would  immediately  become  distributed  into  a  belt  around 
the  sun;  because  the  nearest  pieces  would  have  shorter 
orbits  and  gain  on  the  others  farther  away,  in  every  trip 
around  the  sun.  That  the  space  from  the  sun  to  Mercury 
is  filled  with  innumerable  small  pieces  of  matter,  is 
evident  for  several  reasons ;  one  of  which  is  the  existence 
of  the  Zodiacal  Light.  This  is  the  name  given  to  a  faint, 
ill  defined  light  extending  along  the  zodiac,  either  in  the 
east  before  dawn,  or  in  the  west  after  twilight.  It  so 
much  resembles  the  dawn  of  twilight,  that  it  is  not  or- 
dinarily noticed;  appearing  to  be  a  mere  upward  ex- 
tension of  it.  Projected  on  the  sky  in  the  shape  of  a 
triangle,  it  inclines  toward  the  horizon,  the  same  as  the 
ecliptic.  During  February,  March  and  April  you  will  find 
it  in  the  west,  after  the  sunlight  has  disappeared,  reach- 
ing form  the  horizon  in  a  pyramid,  the  apex  almost  to 
the  zenith,  where  the  constellation  of  the  Pleades  is 
located  during  Febuary  and  March  each  year.  By  notic- 
ing this  light  carefully,  you  will  be  able  to  locate  the 
plane  of  the  sun's  equator  thru  space,  upon  which  every 
planet,  astroid,  etc.,  revolve,  and  which  you  will  notice 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


99 


is  at  right  angles  to  the  Milky  Way  or  Galaxy,  surround 
ed  by  the  nebulae  or  clouds  of  crystals  beyond  Neptune 
which  are  the  material  from  which  the  big  new  planets 
are  made.  This  light  has  been  the  source  of  much  spec- 
ulation and  mystery.  It  was  originally  supposed  to  be 
the  atmosphere  of  the  sun;  but  if  the  Processional  Theory 
is  true,  it  must  now  be  admitted  that  the  sun  can  have 
no  atmosphere,  unless  we  call  the  colorless  gas  of  ex- 
panded matter,  atmosphere.  This,  however  is  entirely 
invisible  and  reaches  upward  from  the  sun,  becoming  loss 


Fig.  16.— Corona  surrounding  the  sun  during  a  total  eclipse 


100  THE  PKOCE8SION  OF  PLANETS 

dense  and  more  sensitive  no  doubt,  until  it  unites  with 
the  same  kind  of  gas  from  the  nearest  suns  in  space. 
The  only  rational  explanation  of  this  light  is  that  it  is  re- 
flected light  from  the  smaller  solid  matter  of  decomposed 
planets  and  comets,  which  by  reason  of  their  great  speed 
and  centrifugal  force,  have  lost  their  centers  of  gravity, 
gone  to  pieces  and  are  hurrying  to  the  sun,  each  in  its 
separate  orbit.  Solid  matter  must  fall  towards  the  sun, 
which  is  down  from  every  part  of  space  in  our  solar  sys- 
tem, according  to  the  law  of  falling  bodies,  minus  the 
check  it  receives  from  centrifugal  force.  If  it  were  not 
falling  in  an  orbit,  there  would  be  no  centrifugal  force 
and  it  would  follow  the  exact  law  of  falling  bodies  with- 
out any  deduction;  but  even  a  comet  has  some  motion 
of  an  orbit  and  therefore  cannot  fall  directly  into  the 
sun.  These  facts,  then,  taken  into  consideration  with 
the  facts  shown  by  the  Processional  Theory,  explain 
simply  and  fully  the  cause  of  the  Zodiacal  Light  and  why 
it  is  more  dense  nearest  the  sun.  Comets  are  known  to 
be  continually  nearing  the  sun  and  they  undoubtedly 
finally  join  this  revolving  mass  of  zodiacal  matter,  obey- 
ing the  law  of  gravity  and  centrifugal  force,  (see  Cham- 
ber's Astronomy,  Vol.  L,  page  329,)  finally  adding  their 
matter  to  help  maintain  the  ever  outward  radiation  of 
heat  expanded  gas  from  the  sun. 

By  keeping  a  record  of  the  sun-spots  for  a  number  of 
years,  it  has  been  asserted  that  the  spots  are  periodical; 
much  more  numerous  at  some  times  than  others.  If  they 
are  made  by  the  falling  of  asteroids  into  the  sun,  this 
would  be  most  likely;  because  the  orbits  of  some  worn 
out  comets,  the  pieces  of  which  can  no  longer  be  seen, 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  101 

would  add  to  this  mass,  periodically,  and  thus  contribute 
more  falling  matter  at  such  times  than  at  other  times. 
These  little  bodies  probably  travel  faster  than  any  other 
members  of  the  solar  system.  Giving  them  the  same  ratio 
of  increase  of  speed  which  the  other  planets  obey,  they 
should  be  traveling  on  an  average  of  5,500,000  miles  per 
day;  but  any  matter  that  has  come  near  enough  to  plunge 
into  the  sun,  must  be  moving  at  the  lightning  speed  of 
nearly  10,000,000  miles  per  day. 

" Roots  and  Powers"  by  C.  S.  Gould  of  Manchester, 
N.  H.,  says: 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  square  roots  of  the  distances  of  the 
planets  are  inversely  proportional  to  their  velocity  of  revolution.  Hence, 
the  nearer  a  planet  approaches  the  sun,  its  velocity  is  more  and  more 
increased.  At  the  distance  of  one  mile,  therefore,  from  the  sun,  the 
velocity  of  the  earth's1  revolution  around  it  would  be  19  miles  per 
second,  and  this  multiplied  by  the  square  root  of  93,890,000  miles  (19  x 
8638)  would  be  183,122  miles  per  second,  and  which  is  very  nearly  up  to 
the  estimated  velocity  of  light. 

No  wonder  then,  that  when  one  of  them  falls  into  the 
sun  there  are  great  magnetic  disturbances  thruout  the 
solar  system;  at  least  as  far  as  the  earth,  where  records 
have  been  kept  since  it  became  safe  to  believe  the  earth 
is  round,  or  to  own  a  telescope. 

Magnetic  observatories  are  now  located  in  all  parts 
of  the  world.  At  these  observatories  magnets  and  needles 
are  suspended  so  they  will  be  agitated  by  any  mag- 
netic influence.  In  watching  sun-spots,  in  connection 
with  these  delicate  needles  and  magnets,  it  has  been 
found  that  sun-spots  cause  them  to  vibrate. 

At  such  times  comes  the  splendors  of  the  auroras  in  the 
north;  but  when  sun-spots  are  few,  the  auroras  and  mag- 


102  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

netic  needles  are  at  rest.  There  are  many  notable  rec- 
ords in  recent  years  of  the  influence  of  sun-spots  upon 
these  instruments,  as  well  as  upon  the  atmosphere  and 
electrical  conditions  of  the  weather.  This  shows  that 
the  electrical  or  heat-force  reaches  out  to  every  part  of 
the  solar  system  in  its  control  of  the  motions  of  matter. 
Sept.  1,  1859,  was  a  day  notable  for  electric  storms  and 
magnetic  disturbances  on  all  parts  of  the  earth.  In  Eu- 
rope and  America  telegraphic  apparatus  were  demolish- 
ed by  over  charging  from  nature.  Flame  followed  re- 
cording pens  and  auroras  of  the  polar  zones  reached  al- 
most to  the  tropics.  Late  in  the  afternoon,  an  English 
astronomer  who  was  making  observations  of  a  group 
of  sun-spots,  saw  two  brilliant  splashes  of  fire  which 
traveled  thirty-five  thousand  miles  along  the  sun's  disk 
in  thirty-five  minutes.  On  August  3,  1882,  an  observation 
was  made  at  the  Rocky  Mountain  observatory  by  Prof. 
Young  who  observed  great  splashes  of  fire  on  the  sun, 
which  he  supposed  to  be  eruptions;  and  at  the  same  in- 
stant, when  light  had  reached  the  earth  from  this  fire, 
the  magnetic  needles  in  England  and  other  observatories 
gave  notice  of  the  disturbance.  Professor  Young's 
needle  was  at  the  same  time  swung  entirely  clear  of  the 
scale.  What  excuse  can  astronomers  offer  for  such  great 
energy  on  the  earth,  other  than  is  disclosed  by  this  simple 
theory,  the  return  of  solid  matter  to  the  sun,  its  sudden 
disintegration  and  chemical  reunion  with  the  sun;  so 
sudden  as  to  cause  the  mighty  explosions  inevitable  when 
heat  should  change  solid  matter  into  gas,  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  times  larger  in  bulk,  thus  giving  that  great  body 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  103 

such  an  overplus  of  heat,  that  its  equal  in  energy  was 
instantly  forwarded  thru  space  with  the  velocity  of  light? 
It  is  a  simple,  common  sense  explanation,  which  alone 
should  give  it  the  brand  of  truth. 


XII. 


THE  SUN. 

The  sun  is  the  great  central  engine  of  the  solar  system 
the  center  of  the  two  great  forces  of  the  solar  system, 
which  are,  heat  and  gravity.  It  is  of  comparatively 
small  density,  being  so  much  expanded  by  heat;  but  it  is 
886,500  miles  in  diameter  and  therefore,  1,300,000  times 
as  large  as  the  earth  in  bulk.  Its  surface  rotates  at  the 
equator  at  the  rate  of  4,400  miles  per  hour  and  much 
slower  at  higher  latitudes  as  it  is  known  to  be  covered 
by  a  loose  envelope.  On  the  plane  of  its  equator  and  in 
the  same  direction,  are  traveling  all  the  celestial  bodies 
of  the  solar  system,  except  the  comets.  This  great  body 


Fig.  17.— Sun  during  total  eclipse,  showing  flames  and  explosions  tens  of 
thousands  of  miles  in  height. 

104 


THE  PBOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  105 

is  supposed  by  physicists,  philosophers  and  astronomers 
(who  endorse  the  nebular  theory)  to  be  hopelessly  loos- 
ing the  energy  and  matter  it  radiates  away.  One  of  the 
late  astronomers  in  speaking  of  the  sun's  energy,  says: 

The    supply    cannot    be    infinite;    how,    then,    can    the    radiation    be 
maintained. 

He  does  not  attempt  to  explain,  but  merely  asserts  that 
the  sun  can  last  only  five  million  years  longer,  when  it 
will  either  disappear  or  become  a  dark,  cold  body;  leav- 
ing the  earth  without  heat  or  light,  other  than  starlight 
from  other  suns.  It  does  not  seem  to  occur  to  him  to 
inquire  what  becomes  of  all  this  matter.  We  know  that 
matter  cannot  be  destroyed  and  can  only  change  its  form 
temporarily,  therefore  there  must  be  a  place  where  all 
this  radiated  matter  will  change  back  to  solid  matter. 
This  has  already  been  answered  and  explained  in  preced- 
ing chapters,  but  it  may  be  objected  that  there  would  not 
be  enough  returning  matter  by  such  a  slow  process  as  the 
returning  of  a  planet  once  in  400,000,000  years.  The  an- 
swer of  the  Processional  Theory  is  a  double  answer. 
First  there  is  no  doubt  thousands  of  times  more  mate- 
rial going  back  to  the  sun  in  the  shape  of  nebulous 
matter,  sand,  meteors  and  cosmic  dust,  that  we  do  not 
see,  than  is  brot,  by  the  returning  planets;  and  sec- 
ond, the  wasting  energy  of  the  sun  is  not  nearly  as 
great  as  measured  in  our  atmosphere  by  physicists 
(see  Graduated  Atmospheres)  where  the  motion  of  light 
is  passing  thru  it  at  the  rate  of  12,000,000  miles  per 
minute  must  create  great  additional  friction  caused  by 
the  resistance  of  the  atmosphere,  and  consequently  add 
to  the  real  heat  of  the  sun.  Going  to  the  top  of  a 


106  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

high  mountain  where  the  air  is  very  much  more  rare 
than  at  sea  level,  we  find  it  much  cooler  altho  nearer 
the  sun.  There  are  even  snow  capped  mountains  under 
the  very  equator;  and  if  we  could  measure  the  heat  out- 
side of  the  atmosphere,  where  the  motion  of  light  travels 
with  less  resistance,  we  might  find  the  heat  very  much 
over  estimated.  Of  one  thing  we  may  be  quite  sure  that 


Fig.  18.— Nebulae  which  a  large  telescope  dissolves  into  suns. 


THE  PEOOESSION  OF  PLANETS  107 

what  goes  up  from  the  sun,  must  come  down  again.  In 
any  event  we  can  safely  trust  the  force  of  gravity  to 
carefully  guard,  collect  and  safely  return,  every  particle 
of  matter,  to  the  smallest  fraction  of  an  ounce,  that  the 
force  of  heat  disintegrates  and  sends  out  as  expanded 
gas. 

We  can  begin  to  realize  the  vast  amount  of  unseen  mat- 
ter being  recieved  by  the  sun  when  we  consider  the  me- 
teors that  fall  upon  our  own  little  planet.  It  is  estimated 
that  one  million  meteors  of  various  sizes  fall  into  the 
earth's  atmosphere  every  hour.  The  sun  being  1,300,000 
times  larger,  would  recieve  that  many  times  as  much 
more,  multiplied  by  its  additional  force  of  gravity. 

From  Neptune  the  sun  appears  900  times  smaller  than 
from  the  earth;  how  much  smaller  must  it  appear  then, 
from  the  nearest  fixed  star,  Alpha  Centuri,  which  is 
25,000,000,000,000  miles  away?  From  there  it  would  ap- 
pear 2,699,700  times  smaller.  Indeed  it  is  quite  doubtful 
if  it  could  be  seen  at  all  by  human  eyes  at  so  great  a  dis- 
tance. The  pole  star  is  twelve  and  one-half  times  as  far 
away  as  Alpha  Centuri  and  it  requires  50  years  for  light 
to  reach  the  earth  from  it— a  distance  of  312,366,700,000,- 
000,000  miles.  Astronomers  estimate  that  Arctaurus  is 
one  million  times  more  distant  than  our  sun  and  that  its 
size  would  more  than  fill  the  orbit  of  Neptune  around  the 
sun.  These  figures,  altho  incomprehensible,  give  us  a  hint 
of  our  comparative  unimportance  when  considered  as  a 
part  of  the  universe  and  nature,  when  compared  with  our 
own  near  surroundings.  These  suns  are  our  nearest  neigh- 
bors in  a  sea  of  untold  trillions,  appearing  smaller  and 
smaller  as  they  are  farther  away,  until  their  apparent 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY) 


108  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

small  size  and  great  numbers,  finally  melt  them  into  mists 
of  white  fleecy  clouds.  Our  own  sun,  great  as  it  seems 
to  us,  would  possibly  never  be  missed  by  our  nearest 
little  neighboring  sun,  if  wiped  entirely  out  of  existence. 
What  monstrous  planets  some  of  these  big  suns  must 
have  in  attendance,  upon  which  we  would  appear  as  mi- 
crobes, to  any  life  that  they  would  evolve!  Compara- 


Fig.  19.— Showing  that  the  sun  is  constant  explosions  which  throw 
flames  and  masses  of  fire  tens  of  thousands  of  miles  in  height. 


lively  our  earth  would  not  be  larger  than  an  ordinary 
adobe  marble ;  that  is  to  say,  it  would  take  as  many  earths 
to  make  one  of  them  as  it  would  take  adobe  marbles  to 
make  an  earth. 

We  are  in  ignorance  of  the  sun's  orbit,  because  we  do 
not  know  where  it  is  going  or  what  is  the  center  of  its 
orbit ;  but  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  it  travels  on  an  orbit 


THE  PEOOESSION  OF  PLANETS  109 

from  west  to  east.  Following  the  law  of  gravity,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  gradually  falling  in  an  orbit 
towards  the  nearest  sun,  Alpha  Centuri,  and  that  Alpha 
Centuri  is  also  falling  towards  our  sun  in  an  orbit,  thus 
forming  a  binary  system  of  suns.  If  there  are  any  other 
suns  in  this  binary  system,  we  cannot  at  present  tell. 
Modern  astronomy  shows  conclusively  that  there  are 
many  double  stars  or  suns,  which  make  orbits  around 
each  other.  Sometimes  there  are  more  than  two,  con- 
sisting of  triple  and  multiple  stars.  Castor  is  a  double 
star,  in  a  telescope  of  modern  power,  one  of  them  being 
of  the  second,  and  the  other  of  the  third  magnitude,  with- 
in five  seconds  of  each  other.  In  some  cases  the  distance 
between  these  stars  is  less  than  one  second  and  they  are 
traveling  around  each  other  with  a  speed  so  appalling 
that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  human  brain  to 
comprehend  it.  Indeed  the  nearest  of  these  binary  sys- 
tems is  so  far  removed  from  the  earth,  that  it  is  scarcely 
possible  to  more  than  estimate  their  distance.  The  var- 
iable star  Argol  has  an  orbital  period  of  sixty-nine  hours. 
It  is  a  star  of  the  second  magnitude,  but  for  seven  hours 
is  partially  eclipsed  by  a  monster  dark  body  or  a  number 
of  them,  and  its  minimum,  is  reduced  to  a  star  of  the 
fourth  magnitude  for  twenty  minutes,  when  its  luster  is 
gradually  restored.  These  great  bodies,  must  then  be 
flying  around  each  other  separated  by  a  distance  of  only 
about  3,000,000  miles.  We  can  form  some  idea  of  their 
great  distance  from  the  earth,  by  comparing  their  orbits 
to  the  rim  of  a  one  cent  piece,  removed  to  a  distance  of 
ten  miles  from  the  observer.  By  the  perfect  methods  of 
mathematicians,  the  astonishing  fact  has  been  shown, 


110  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

that  where  a  binary  system  is  formed  of  two  suns,  the 
motion  of  each  is  performed  in  an  ellipse,  which  contains 


Fig.  20. — Showing  that  the  sun  is  a  glowing,  burning  mass  of  flame. 

the  center  of  gravity  of  the  two  suns  in  its  focus.  One 
of  the  finest  binary  stars  is  Castor  which  is  divided  into 
a  star  of  the  second  magnitude  and  one  of  the  third.  The 
polar,  or  north  star,  is  also  a  binary;  its  companion  being 
much  smaller,  of  the  ninth  magnitude  only.  Mizar,  in 
the  constellation  of  Ursa  Major,  the  middle  star  in  the 
part  called  the  tail,  is  also  a  beautiful  double  star. 
Lyrae  is  a  most  interesting  double  star,  each  part  of  which 
again  a  double,  making  a  double  double  star.  The  entire 
star  consists  of  four  stars  in  two  pairs;  the  pairs  revolv- 
ing around  each  other,  and  the  two  pairs  also  revolving 
each  other.  This  we  see  makes  a  very  complicated  set 
of  motions  to  be  dealt  with  by  mathematicians. 

Prof.  Burnam  of  the  Lick  observatory  had  discovered 
one  thousand  new  double  stars,  as  early  as  1897.  Some 
of  these  stars  are  thousands  of  times  farther  away  than 
others  and  their  distance  can  only  be  estimated  by  cal- 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  111 

culating  the  diameter  of  the  telescope  required  to  bring 
them  into  view.  Some  of  our  comparatively  near  neigh- 
bor suns  are  so  immense  that  they  would  fill  our  earth's 
orbit  around  the  sun;  yet  they  obey  the  same  laws  that 
govern  the  procession  of  planets  in  our  own  solar  system, 
are  gradually  approaching  each  other  and  when  they 
finally  come  together,  will  present  the  phenomena  of  a 
burning  Star  as  did  the  "New  Star  in  Perseus"  that  ap- 
peared so  suddenly  in  that  constellation  on  the  21st  day 
of  Feb.,  1901,  and  in  two  days  reached  the  brilliancy  of  a 
star  of  the  first  magnitude.  The  great  speed  shown 
later  in  the  revolving  mass  composing  this  new  star,  con- 
sidered together  with  its  great  distance  from  the  earth, 
makes  conclusive  evidence  that  it  is  not  a  melting  planet, 
occupying  a  position  in  another  system  corresponding  to 
the  position  of  Jupiter  in  ours,  but  that  it  was  a  binary 
system  of  suns  that  fell  together.  Soon  after  its  first 
great  light  had  subsided,  it  was  seen  to  be  spreading  and 
occupying  a  larger  space.  Later,  about  November,  it 
was  found  that  portions  of  the  mass  had  moved  thou- 
sands of  millions  of  miles  apart  in  orbits,  with  almost 
the  velocity  of  light.  The  distance  from  the  earth  is  so 
vast,  that  the  speed  cannot  be  accurately  determined;  but 
it  is  appalling  to  astronomers,  and  all  this  goes  to  prove 
that  the  new  star  in  Perseus  was  not  the  result  of  the  melt- 
ing of  a  first  class  planet  in  a  solar  system,  but  on  the 
much  larger  scale  of  a  binary  system  of  suns,  explainable 
only  by  the  Processional  Theory. 

Now  according  to  the  Processional  Theory  of  the 
Motions  of  Matter,  a  sun  must  gradually  shorten  its  orbit 
and  increase  its  speed,  by  exactly  the  same  law  that 


112  THE  PKOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

planets  and  other  bodies  follow.  They  with  their  whole 
system  of  satellites,  must  be  continually  nearing  some 
center  and  gaining  speed  upon  their  mighty  orbits.  In 
the  case  of  our  own  sun,  its  orbit  is  so  great  that  we  can 
have  no  conception  of  its  size,  or  of  which,  or  how  many 
of  the  burning  stars  in  sight  are  its  binary  companions. 
One  thing  seems  reasonable;  our  sun  must  be  in  the  hey- 
day of  its  youth,  as  it  appears  to  travel  but  45,000  miles 
per  hour  thru  space ;  and  when  we  remember  that  a  planet 
gains  a  speed  of  2,500,000  miles  per  day,  by  the  time  it 
reaches  the  orbit  of  Mercury  in  our  own  little  system,  we 
can  begin  to  have  some  vague  idea  of  the  speed  a  sun 
would  gain  in  reaching  the  center  of  its  convergency  in 
an  orbit  so  immense  that  it  must  take  millions  of  times 
longer  to  reach  its  center,  than  it  does  a  planet.  Does 
this,  then,  not  explain  the  phenomena  of  the  "burning 
star  in  Perseus ' '  ?  When  two  great  suns  and  their  solar 
systems,  finally  come  in  contact  after  revolving  around 
each  other  with  speed  of  light,  would,  or  could  any  thing 
happens,  except  just  what  the  spectroscopic  photographs 
show  has  and  is  happening  to  this  new  and  astonishing 
star?  It  is  almost  marvelous  that  two  suns  when  travel- 
ing at  such  a  rate  of  speed,  could  hold  themselves  together 
until  they  could  touch  each  other;  but,  the  moment  they 
did  touch,  there  could  be  no  other  result  but  the  great 
heating  and  lighting  which  did  take  place  in  this  ex- 
ample; and  when  their  masses  were  torn  to  pieces,  in  this 
condition  of  heat  and  gas,  revolving  with  the  speed  of 
light,  their  centrifugal  force  and  the  expanding  force  of 
heat,  would  destroy  their  centers  of  gravity  for  each 
other  and  they  would  at  once  distribute  the  larger  part 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  113 

of  their  matter  over  a  circular  space,  billions  of  miles  in 
diameter,  the  ellipses  of  which  would  correspond  with  the 
ellipses  of  the  former  suns  which  made  the  vast  seas  of 
matter  with  its  burning  central  suns.  Then  must  com- 
mence again  the  process  of  a  new  solar  system  for  each; 
with  new  planets  forming  on  their  uppermost  edges, 
gradually  falling  back  to  the  center  force  or  suns,  which 
are  always  expanding  matter  into  gas  and  thus  as  we  see 


Fig.  21.— Photograph  of  Milky  Way,  taken  at  Sidney,  Australia- 


114  THE  PKOCE8SION  OF  PLANETS 

forcing  it  up  again  by  a  comparatively  never-ending  pro- 
cession of  expanded  colorless  gas  from  the  centers  and 
ponderable  matter  falling  back  as  planets,  satellites, 
asteroids  and  comets  to  the  centers. 

The  outside  of  the  sun,  at  least,  is  a  great  burning  mass 
of  fire  containing  all  the  elements  found  in  the  earth.  Its 
heat  is  many  times  greater  than  the  most  intense  electric 
heat  that  can  be  generated  at  the  earth.  Argo  determin- 
ed that  the  light  of  the  sun  is  of  the  nature  of  burning  gas 
or  flame;  and  analyses  show  that  the  atmosphere  is  com- 
posed of  gaseous  matter  in  intense  combustion  or  chem- 
ical friction. 

In  our  study  of  the  Inner  Asteroids,  we  have  seen  that 
by  a  carefully  arranged  and  complete  system  of  magnets 
and  needles  at  the  earth,  it  is  found  that  sun-spots  and 
explosions  on  the  surface  of  the  sun  are  followed  by  the 
vibration  of  these  suspended  magnets  and  needles,  thus 
plainly  showing  that  something  has  happened  at  the  sun 
to  cause  it  to  send  out  such  additional  energy  from  itself 
with  the  speed  of  light,  as  to  cause  these  vibrations.  The 
cause  of  the  heat  and  light  from  the  sun  and  the  cause  of 
the  periodical  energy  that  vibrates  needles  and  magnets 
at  the  time  of  sun-spots,  has  been  to  science  the  unknow- 
able mystery  of  the  sun.  The  only  theory  that  can  or 
does  explain  the  apparent  mystery,  is  the  Processional 
Theory.  The  explosion  and  the  great  whirling  black  hole 
which  gave  due  notice  eight  minutes  later  at  the  earth 
(not  only  by  vibrations  on  the  human  eye  but  also  by 
vibrations  on  and  oscillations  of  suspended  magnets  and 
needles)  can  be  none  other  than  effects  produced  by  the 
collision  and  chemical  friction  of  disintegrating  matter 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  115 

which,  reuniting  or  fluxing  with  the  burning  matter  of 
the  sun,  almost  instantly  expanded  into  bulk,  tens  of 
thousands  of  times  greater  than  when  it  enters;  thus 
causing  the  jarring  of  the  whole  sea  of  expanded  matter 
between  the  sun  and  the  earth  where  the  needles  and 
magnets  wait  to  receive  it. 


Pit;.  22. — Japss«n's  photograph  of  Solar  Disc,  showing  granulations 
or  tops  of  prominences  and  one  spot. 


For  the  sake  of  illustration,  let  us  suppose  an  asteroid, 
ten  miles  in  diameter  should  fall  into  the  sun.  If  this  Pro- 
cessional Theory  be  correct,  its  speed  would  be  about  ten 
millions  miles  per  day ;  or,  68,000  miles  per  minute.  This 
must  send  it  thousands  of  miles  into  the  sun  before  it 
can  possibly  be  expanded  into  gas.  No  hole  would  be 
seen  at  first,  but  it  would  not  be  a  minute  perhaps,  until, 
instead  of  occupying  1000  cubic  miles  as  solid  matter  (if 
it  were  ordinary  rock)  it  would  occupy  a  space  of  11,000,- 


116  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

000  cubic  miles  as  expanded  gas.  Now,  what  could  hap- 
pen but  a  great  explosion,  leaving  a  hole  exposing  the 
deeper  parts  of  the  sun,  and  shooting  fiery  flames  and 
gases,  tens  of  thousands  of  miles  in  height?  Altho  the 
solid  matter  fell  into  the  sun,  the  explosion  would  come 
outward ;  and  as  it  went  in,  it  would  have  its  axial  motion 
(as  returning  and  outgoing  matter  has)  so  that  the  hole 
made  by  the  exploding  gas  would  have  the  motion  often 
noticable  in  the  spots  and  firey  explosions  spoken  of  as 
* i  cyclones. ' ' 

The  enormous  collision  that  must  be  the  result  of  stop- 
ping a  speed  of  68,000  miles  per  minute,  and  the  chemical 
friction  generated  by  its  fluxing,  would  cause  an  immense 
additional  heat  in  the  sun.  This  might  be  illustrated  by 
adding  a  gallon  of  gasoline  to  the  fire  in  an  already  hot 
stove.  The  jarrings  or  vibrations  of  this  gas  from  the 
sun,  would  send  its  impulse  up  from  the  sun  with  the 
speed  of  light.  The  more  heat,  the  more  rapid  the  vi- 
bration and  consequently  the  more  friction  and  also  more 
pressure  at  the  earth. 

What  but  the  explosion  of  a  great  lump  of  matter  into 
gas,  could  give  the  whole  body  of  expanded  gas  between 
the  sun  and  the  earth,  such  an  impulse  as  to  force  the 
suspended  magnet  to  move  clear  of  its  scale,  as  noted  by 
Prof.  Young  at  the  Rocky  Mountain  Observatory? 

If  the  heat  from  the  sun  was  regular  and  constant,  we 
might  conclude  that  its  source  of  supply  was  only  the 
radiation  of  its  own  material  as  per  the  nebular  hypoth- 
esis; but  when  we  know  and  measure  its  irregularity, 
must  we  not  look  for  a  reason  that  will  make  it  consistent 
with  natural  causes?  Let  us  return  to  the  gun  barrel 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  117 

filled  with  bullets,  to  illustrate  the  effect  of  the  unusual 
amount  of  heat  following  the  sun-spots:  Suppose  we 
hang  a  magnet  at  the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  where  a  bullet 
coming  out  would  move  it  the  distance  of  the  diameter 
of  one  bullet.  If  we  could  instantly  push  ten  bullets  in 
at  the  breach,  we  would  instantly  move  the  magnet  the 
distance  of  the  diameter  of  ten  bullets.  Rodger's  Theory 
of  the  Universe  says  of  sun-spots: 

f  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  so-called  sun  spots  which 
appear  as  if  located  on  the  face  of  the  sun?  The  sun  heat,  sun  light 
and  sun  dazzle,  the  corona  and  prominences,  all  appear  quite  as  real  as 
if  located  at  the  sun;  and  shall  this  spot  phenomena  prove  an  exception 
to  this  great  rule?  All  these  have  proved  to  be  mere  superficial  appear- 
ances, so  far  as  the  sun  is  concerned;  then  why  should  not  the  sun  spot 
be  classed  with  these  as  purely  an  optical  illusion?  That  it  is  such  an 
illusion  is  now  demonstrable.  Thus  single  spots  and  groups  of  spots, 
which  if  *  located  at  the  sun  itself  would  occupy  an  area  of  millions  of 
miles,  appear  and  disappear  instantaneously.  This  implies  velocities 
wholly  impossible.  This  phenomena  is  therefore  an  illusion,  so  far  as 
being  located  at  the  sun  is  concerned.  *  *  * 

That  a  sun-spot  is  on  the  sun  is  very  easily  proven  by 
spectroscopic  photographs  of  a  spot,  taken  at  regular  in- 
tervals as  it  travels  with  the  sun's  rotation  from  west  to 
east.  When  it  passes  half  way  across  the  disk  it  is  near- 
est to  us  and  shows  the  full  size;  then  it  gradually  grows 
narrower  till  it  presents  a  dark  line  paralel  with  the  sun's 
edge ;  and  when  upon  the  very  edge  of  the  disk,  it  shows 
an  indenture  in  the  sun's  surface  which  we  illustrate  in 
the  following  cut,  representing  six  photographs  of  the 
same  spot  taken  at  noon  on  six  successive  days.  This 
is  conclusive  evidence  that  the  spot  is  on  the  sun  and  not 
in  the  eyelashes  of  the  observer.  Not  only  this ;  it  proves 


118 


THE  PJIOCE8SION  OF  PLANETS 


that  the  sun  is  a  sphere  and  that  it  revolves  on  its  axis  in 
about  four  times  six  days. 


Fig.  23. 

Not  realizing  that  the  planets  are  continually  being 
formed  in  the  region  of  nebular  clouds  beyond  Neptune, 
but  believing  they  fall  into  the  sun,  Dr.  Meyer  says  in 
1905,  in  his  book  "The  End  of  the  World/'  page  132, 
after  showing  how  the  moons  disintegrate  into  rings  and 
fall  to  their  planets: 

The  same  interplay  must  take  place  between  the  planets. 
One  after  another  the  planets  will  have  to  reunite  with  the  sun.  And 
whether  a  planet  drops  all  at  once,  or  whether  it  is  first  transformed  into 
a  ring  and  then  falls  piecemeal  very  gradually,  the  result  will  be 
essentially  the  same.  In  far  off  future  ages'  the  sun's  diminishing  supply 
of  life-giving  heat  will  be  replenished,  in  the  one  case  suddenly,  there- 
with causing  the  sun  to  flare  up  brightly  as  a  new  star,  in  the  other 
slowly  and  in  gradual  additions.  Still,  sometime  the  last  planet 
will  have  dropped  upon  the  sun  and  the  last  -particle  of  heat  generated 
will  have  been  radiated  into  space.  All  the  material  which  upbuilt  the 
splendid  sun  and  its  train  of  planets  with  their  richly  varied  life,  will 
have  become  a  single  mass,  cold,  dark,  inert,  rolling  thru  the  empty 
void  of  space  without  end,  without  aim.  This  is  the  last,  the  very 
last  end  of  the  solar  system.  Is  there  anything  that  could  ever  again 
awaken  it  into  new  life,  after  its  life  giving  heat  has  thus  been  com- 
pletely spent?  All  bodies  move  restlessly  thru  space.  There  is  no 
star  in  the  heavens  that  stands  still.  Whatever  else  may  befall  it,  it 
moves  on  and  on.  Even  after  it  is  dead  and  burnt  out  it  continues 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  119 

on  its  way.  The  terriffic  force*  that  impels  it  survives  thru  all  the 
catastrophes  which  it  undergoes.  But  the  dead  orb  cannot  transform 
this  energy  of  motion  into  vital  power  for  itself,  since  only  a  difference 
of  motion  can  set  up  a  movement  to  and  fro  among  the  rigid  particles, 
of  which  the  cold  burnt  out  sun  is  composed.  But  by  virtue  of  inertia, 
the  universal  property  of  matter,  every  change  of  motion  requires  the 
action  of  a  resisting  force.  And  this  force  is  lacking  as  long  as  no 
body  from  without  acts  on  that  dead  mass. 

This  is  exactly  what  would  and  will  happen;  but  not 
when  the  present  planets  have  all  fallen  into  the  sun,  be- 
cause, as  we  see,  new  planets  are  being  continually  formed 
in  the  zone  of  nebulae  beyond  Neptune.  The  matter  of 
the  sun,  augmented  by  the  return  of  the  planets  may  be 
thrown  out  and  returned  thousands  of  times  before  the 
sun  reaches  its  binary  companion,  just  as  the  water  of  the 
sea  may  be  evaporated  into  clouds  and  fall  as  rain  and 
snow  upon  the  earth  thousands  of  times  before  it  has  all 
disappeared  into  the  earth's  cooling  crust.  The  inertia, 
spoken  of  by  the  Doctor  is  in  this  case,  simply  falling ;  or 
gravitation  towards  its  binary  companion.  There  is  an- 
other inertia,  overlooked  by  him,  which  sends  them  apart. 
This,  as  we  all  must  see,  is  the  expansion  of  heat,  which, 
added  to  the  immense  centrifugal  force  they  have  gained 
by  their  increased  speed,  sends  them  as  far  apart  as  they 
ever  were. 

The  uneasiness  of  some  scientists  and  astronomers  lest 
some  stray  planet,  sun,  comet  or  other  celestial  body  may 
sooner  or  later  collide  with  and  destroy  the  earth,  is  as 
needless  as  are  the  sleepless  nights  passed  by  people  who 
imagine  the  forests  may  pass  away,  or  that  the  supply  of 
coal  and  oil  will  be  exhausted.  It  is  as  impossible  for 

*Falling  of  course. 


120  THE  rKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

two  planets  to  collide,  as  for  two  fans  of  a  windmill  to 
collide.  When  we  consider  that  expanded  matter  or  gas 
from  the  sun  condenses  into  dust  and  gathers  finally  into 
a  world  which  then  falls  in  a  spiral  orbit  to  the  sun,  it  is 


Fig.  24.— Kale's  snapshot  of  Solar  Prominence.    March  24,  1892. 

plain  that  each  planet  in  order  to  form,  gathers  by  at- 
traction the  material  within  hundreds  of  millions  of  miles 
from  it,  including  the  lesser  independent  bunches  which 
form  its  satellites.  This  expanded  matter  or  gas  when 
leaving  the  sun  has  the  motion  and  speed  of  the  sun's 
equator  and  must  always  continue  in  the  same  motion 
from  west  to  east;  therefore,  the  new  planet  must  have 
the  same  motion  around  the  sun  that  the  gas  had.  This 
leaves  no  possible  chance  for  a  planet  to  travel  from  east 
to  west,  or  to  meet  another  planet,  even  if  two  could  be 
formed  in  the  same  belt  or  orbit  of  crystals.  When  a 
planet  has  been  formed  from  this  consolidated  gas  or  dust 
it  has  by  that  time  (the  first  four  hundred  million  years), 
fallen  half  way  to  the  sun;  leaving  the  vast  field  thru 
which  it  gathered  itself,  to  the  solidifying  gas  out  of 
which  in  the  next  four  hundred  million  years)  the  next 
planet  will  be  formed,  thus  leaving  a  clear  field  for  each 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  121 

planet  as  it  comes  in.  It  is  true  that  comets,  asteroids  or 
meteoroids  may  cross  the  earth's  orbit,  but  they  are  small; 
and  if  they  should  actually  come  within  the  earth's  at- 
traction and  finally  fall  upon  its  surface,  the  chances  are 
two  to  one  that  they  would  fall  into  the  sea.  Then  if  they 
were  large  enough  to  make  a  tidal  wave,  they  might  per- 
haps drown  a  few  people.  Should  they  happen  to  fall 
upon  the  land,  the  catastrophe  would  probably  be  less 
fatal  than  a  cyclone  in  a  city  like  St.  Louis,  or  an  earth- 
quake in  San  Francisco.  True,  the  satellites  of  the  plan- 
ets fall  upon  them,  one  at  a  time,  as  they  reach  their 
planet ;  but  they  undoubtedly  go  to  pieces  and  fall  gradu- 
ally; most  of  them  burning,  or  changing?  back  into  gas,  in 
their  atmosphere.  When  the  earth  was  at  the  present  orbit 
of  Jupiter,  it  no  doubt  had  as  many  moons ;  but  they  have 
fallen  one  at  a  time,  most  of  them  no  doubt,  before  human 
life  had  evolved.  If  the  inside  moon  of  Mars  should  fall 
bodily  upon  the  planet  at  this  time,  it  would  only  injure 
plants  or  possibly  a  few  serpentine  animals,  as  the  planet 
must  still  be  too  hot  to  have  evolved  much  higher  life 
than  vegetation.  Our  moon  is  approaching  the  earth 
and  gaining  speed  as  it  falls;  but  it  will  reach  the  earth 
no  doubt,  about  the  time  the  earth  turns  one  of  its  mag- 
netic poles  to  the  sun  and  thus  destroy  all  organic  life. 
That  which  applies  to  moons  and  planets  must  also  ap- 
ply to  suns;  and  these  bodies  can  only  meet  in  binary  sys- 
tems and  again  be  forced  into  space  from  which  they 
came.  A  celestial  body  cannot  travel  unless  it  is  falling 
to  some  other  body  or  is  being  thrown  up  by  heat  and  cen- 
trifugal force.  The  other  body  is  also  falling  and  they 
cannot  fall  straight  together  since,  as  we  have  seen,  the 


122  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

motion  of  both  is  orbital  (or  circular)  causing  them  to 
make  vast  orbits  around  each  other.  Thus  we  see  it  is  an 
utter  impossibility  for  any  celestial  body  to  meet  with 
or  crash  into  another,  except  as  compelled  by  the  laws 
governing  the  procession  of  celestial  bodies,  and  which 
is  made  by  the  opposing  forces,  heat  and  cold. 

As  the  sun  is  continually  expanding  matter  into  color- 
less gas  at  its  surface,  and  pushing  the  gas  above  it,  fur- 
ther up  as  more  is  expanded  from  below,  we  must  admit 
that  when  it  leaves  the  sun  it  travels  in  the  same  time 
and  direction  as  the  equator  of  the  sun,  which  being 
the  most  active  zone,  must  throw  off  the  most  matter; 
and  as  the  orbital  speed  of  the  sun  at  its  equatorial  zone 
is  4,400  miles  per  hour,  the  gas  thrown  off  here  must 
take  the  same  direction  and  rate  of  speed  on  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic  or  equatorial  zone.  As  it  is  pushed  far- 
ther and  farther  up,  by  the  expansion  of  the  constantly 
forming  gas  from  below,  it  would  have  a  continually 
lengthening  orbit;  therefore  it  would  continually  take  it 
longer  to  complete  its  next  orbit,  even  if  it  kept  up  the 
speed  of  4,400  miles  per  hour.  For  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, we  will  say  there  is  no  friction  and  it  never  loses 
this  speed  until  at  the  end  of  billions  of  years  it  has 
reached  the  regions  of  immeasurable  cold,  say  twice  the 
distance  of  Neptune  from  the  sun.  Of  course  there  may  be 
some  friction  and  therefore  a  loss  of  speed  on  account  of 
the  shorter  orbits  of  the  atoms  of  gas  towards  the  sun. 
As  gas  is  swelled  and  pushed  up  from  the  sun  below,  its 
weight  is  upon  the  gas  below,  and  therefore  is  continu- 
ally becoming  lighter  as  it  goes  up ;  the  gas  next  the  sun 
is  condensed,  because  of  the  weight  of  all  above  it,  the 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


123 


same  as  air  is  more  condensed  -at  sea  level  than  on  a 
mountain  top,  or  as  water  is  more  condensed  as  we  go 
down  in  it.  The  pressure  under  water  increases  so  fast 
that  an  ordinary  man,  unprotected,  will  be  killed  at  a 
depth  of  40  feet.  Figure  25  will  illustrate  what  I 


mean  by  the  same  gas  filling  the  same  space  (and 
the  more  as  it  gets  lighter)  in  larger  orbits.  In  the 
space  (1)  which  encircles  the  sun,  the  size  of  the  sur- 
face is  the  same  as  (2),  (3)  or  (4).  You  perceive  it 
leaves  the  sun  less  and  less  rapidly,  because  it  has  a  larg- 
er circle  to  fill;  therefore  the  same  body  of  gas  will  oc- 
cupy a  narrower  belt  because  it  is  so  much  larger  in  cir- 


1£4  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

cumference.  Half  the  distance  to  the  nearest  sun  center, 
is  twelve  million,  million  miles;  and  we  can  understand 
that  up  at  that  point  the  gas  must  be  very  thin  and  light. 
We  must  not  forget  that  motion  (which  is  light,  heat, 
electricity,  sound,  etc.,)  will  certainly  travel  at  greater 
speed  thru  gas  that  is  light,  than  thru  gas  that  is  heavy. 
The  reason  why  we  have  light  in  an  incandescent  bulb, 
is  because  the  platinum  wire  makes  a  resistance  to  the 
motion  of  electricity,  which  then  makes  the  friction  of 
light  and  heat.  Therefore,  as  expanded  matter  is  swell- 
ed up  from  the  sun  in  greater  orbits,  more  space  is  filled 
with  the  same  gas,  because  it  is  less  dense,  having  less 
weight  of  gas  above  it.  This  is  the  outward  pressure 
that  Prof.  Lebudue  has  called  "The  Outward  Pressure 
of  Light."  If  he  has  measured  it  any  where  near  cor- 
rectly, he  should  be  able  to  find  a  measurable  difference 
in  its  speed  at  the  opposite  ends  of  the  earth's  orbit,  as 
there  is  a  difference  of  3,000,000  miles  between  its  dis- 
tance from  the  sun  at  perihelion  and  its  distance  at 
aphelion. 

We  know  this  gas  must  finally  reach  a  region  so  cold 
that  it  cannot  remain  expanded;  let  us  suppose  it  to  be 
the  nebulous  region  beyond  Neptune,  6,000,000,000  miles 
up  from  the  sun;  what  must  take  place  then,  but  a  slow 
and  gradual  collection  of  dust  into  little  bunches  that  at- 
tract each  other  until  finally  the  foundation  for  a  new 
world  is  laid,  with  an  orbital  motion  and  speed  inher- 
ited from  its  parent,  the  sun?  Every  atom  of  this  newly 
formed  planet  must  have  this  "inheritance"  or  motion 
of  the  sun,  and  every  planet  is  a  collection  of  motion  as 
well  as  matter.  The  orbital  motion  cannot  stop  or 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


125 


change  because  it  is  only  the  extended  motion  of  the  sun, 
of  which  all  things  in  the  solar  system  are  a  part,  wheth- 
er visible  or  invisible,  whether  swelling  up  by  expansion 


Fig.  26.— The  Eyepiece  of  a  Great  Telescope 


126  THE  PKOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

of  heat,  or  falling  back  to  the  sun  as  ponderable  matter. 
So  also  we  can  say  of  the  axial  motion  or  any  other  mo- 
tion they  may  have. 

When  we  understand  how  and  why  the  solar  system 
keeps  itself  in  motion,  how  our  sun  is  supplied  with  heat, 
light  and  material  with  which  to  make  new  worlds, 
there  will  be  time  then  to  hunt  up  a  binary  system  or 
larger  cycle  of  revolving  matter  to  which  we  belong. 
No  doubt  the  individual  members  of  our  binary  system 
are  revolving  from  west  to  east,  and  that  as  a  system  it 
is  revolving  in  the  galaxy,  from  west  to  east;  that  that 
galaxy  revolves  from  west  to  east,  and  that  all  the  ga- 
laxies both  visible  and  invisible  do  likewise.  If  we  once 
get  the  idea  that  a  solar  system  is  a  self-operating  ma- 
chine, the  center  and  engine  of  which  is  a  sun,  that  every 
direction  from  one  of  these  suns  is  up,  every  direction  to 
it  is  down  and  that  its  fires  or  force  is  maintained  and 
fed  by  the  continual  return  of  matter  from  the  regions 
where  the  gas  is  cooled,  the  continual  turning  or  return- 
ing, we  can  understand  that  matter  can  never  be  motion- 
less or  destroyed.  (  Universe  is  from  the  Latin,  "uni", 
one;  "ver",  to  turn.) 

At  first  it  would  seem  to  us  that  it  would  take  an  atom 
of  gas  vastly  longer  to  travel  from  the  sun  to  its  outward 
limit,  than  to  fall  back  to  the  sun  as  solid  matter;  but  it 
must  take  the  same  time  to  the  fractional  part  of  a  sec- 
ond to  make  the  upward  trip,  that  it  takes  to  make  the 
downward  trip.  This  is  because  the  acceleration  of 
motion  is  reversed  at  the  upward  and  downward  end  of 
both  journeys;  that  is  to  say,  matter  recedes  from  the 
sun  more  and  more  slowly  as  it  goes  farther  up  and  re- 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


127 


Fig.  27.— Nebulae  which  cannot  be  dissolved  into  suns, 


turns  more  and  more  slowly    (that  is,   approaches  the 
sun)   because  of  the  centrifugal  force  generated.     We 


128  THE  PBOCESSIUN  OF  PLANETS 

find  Neptune  approaches  the  sun  1,570,000,000  miles  in 
the  same  time  that  Mercury  approaches  the  sun  15,000- 
000  miles;  for  the  reason  of  the  centrifugal  force  gener- 
ated by  the  continually  increasing  speed  of  falling.  One 
of  the  atoms  of  expanded  gas  on  its  upward  trip  is  forc- 
ed to  leave  the  sun  by  expansion  thousands  of  times 
faster  at  Mercury's  orbit  than  when  at  Neptune's  orbit, 
for  the  reason  of  its  orbit  continually  increasing  in 
length  and  therefore  it  takes  more  gas  from  the  sun  to 
fill  each  succeeding  outward  orbit.  All  this  may  be 
easily  proven  by  the  mathematical  calculations  of  any 
one  competent  to  do  the  work.  It  would  include  the  dif- 
ference in  the  weight  of  the  gas,  as  it  became  less  con- 
densed up  from  the  sun.  To  illustrate  more  plainly,  let 
us  take  Sir  William  Thompson's  400,000,000  year  period 
between  the  age  of  planets  as  a  standard  and  say  that 
from  the  time  an  expanded  atom  of  gas  leaves  the  sun 
until  it  reaches  the  orbit  of  Neptune  would  be  400,000,- 
000  years  or  the  same  time  that  Neptune  will  require  to 
reach  Uranus.  In  other  words,  that  the  atom  of  gas 
must  travel  as  far  from  the  sun  during  its  first  400,000- 
000  years,  as  a  new  planet  falls  towards  the  sun  dur- 
ing the  first  400,000,000  years  of  its  return.  The  next 
400,000,000  years,  the  atom  would  only  leave  the  sun 
about  half  as  far,  but  the  space  to  be  filled  with  gas 
would  be  the  same  as  the  space  filled  during  the  first 
400,000,000  years,  thus  reversing  the  process  of  the  speed 
of  the  returning  new  planet. 

I  do  not  make  these  calculations  with  anv  claim  to 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  129 

exactness,  but  with  the  idea  only  of  illustrating  the  mo- 
tions of  matter  on  its  upward  trip  from  the  sun  and  its 
returning  or  falling  back  to  the  sun,  as  contracted  or 
solid  matter. 


XIII. 

MOONS. 

« 

There  is  an  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  the 
moons  or  satellites  of  planets,  that  certainly  points  to  the 
truth  that  the  planets  are  of  different  ages.  Commenc- 
ing at  Venus  and  going  outward,  we  find  the  moons  ar- 
ranged in  numbers  as  follows: 

Number  of  Moons 

Venus 0 

Earth 1 

Mars    2 

Asteroids    ?  (4) 

Jupiter 7 

Saturn 9   (known) 

We  will  discuss  the  moons  of  Uranus  and  Neptune  later 
inasmuch  as  they  are  so  far  away  that  only  a  few  of  them 
can  be  seen  and  seem  to  be  traveling  in  contrary  orbits 
and  deserve  to  be  considered  as  comets  or  satellites  not 
having  reached  their  orbits  as  regular  moons. 

The  question  now  is,  why  do  these  planets  lose  their 
satellites  as  they  approach  the  sun?  Why  has  Saturn 
nine  moons  and  Venus  none,  with  a  gradual  decrease  be- 
tween! Saturn's  moons  travel  around  it  in  the  same  di- 
rection that  the  planets  all  travel  around  the  sun,  on  the 
plane  of  the  sun's  equator.  The  outside  moon  of  Saturn 
is  farther  from  the  planet  than  the  moon  of  any  other 

130 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


131 


Fig.  28. 


132  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

planet  whose  moons  we  can  see,  and  the  outside  moon  of 
each  planet  as  we  come  in  towards  the  sun  is  closer  to 
the  planet  and  traveling  at  greater  speed.  The  moons 
of  Jupiter  are  near  enough  to  make  it  possible  to  meas- 
ure their  distance  and  speed  with  considerable  exact- 
ness. Four  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter  may  be  seen  with  an 
ordinary  field  glass  and  the  largest  one  can  sometimes  be 
seen  with  the  naked  eye,  from  high  mountain  tops  in 
such  a  climate  as  that  of  Southern  California.  In  the 
largest  telescopes  they  show  in  considerable  detail; 
enough  so  that  moon  I,  is  known  to  be  held  with  one  face 
towards  Jupiter,  having  either  turned  one  of  its  mag- 
netic poles  to  the  planet,  or  elongated,  the  same  as  our 
moon  is  held  by  the  earth,  and  the  same  as  the  earth 
will  sometime  be  held  by  the  sun,  as  Venus  and  Mercury 
are  now  known  to  be  held.  These  four  moons  numbered 
from  the  planet  outwardly  I,  II,  III,  and  IV  were  the  first 
objects  upon  which  Gallileo  turned  the  first  telescope 
ever  made.  In  1892  Prof.  Bernard,  noticing  the  perfect 
ratio  in  the  distance  and  speed  of  these  four  moons,  de- 
cided that  at  the  proper  ratio  of  distance,  there  should 
be  another  moon  between  Moon  I  and  Jupiter;  and  sure 
enough,  after  considerable  pains  he  found  the  photo- 
graph of  it  on  the  sensitive  plate,  and  very  small;  112,- 
500  miles  distant,  or  less  than  half  as  far  from  Jupiter  as 
our  own  moon  is  from  the  earth  and  making  its  entire 
orbit  around  Jupiter  in  eleven  hours  and  fifty-seven  min- 
utes and  twenty-two  and  six-tenths  seconds. 

The  following  table  shows  the  name,  distance,  time  of 
orbit  and  speed  of  each  of  Jupiter's  satellites. 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


133 


Name 

Bernard's 

I 

II 

III 

IV 


Distance 
112,500 
278,500 
495,000 
605,000 
1,160,000 


Time 
12  hours 
42       " 
85      " 
171      " 
400      " 


Miles  per  day. 
1,350,000 
960,000 
754,000 
580,000 
415,000 


In  examining  these  moons  and  their  various  relations 
to  the  planet,  the  evidence  they  give  of  the  truth  of  the 
" Processional  Theory"  becomes  almost  startling  to  one 
who  has  not  been  a  student  of  it.  In  the  first  place,  the 
moons  follow  the  same  law  of  ratio  in  shortening  their 
orbits  and  increasing  their  speed,  that  the  planets  do 
in  approaching  the  sun,  that  the  sun  itself  must  follow, 


1150.000 


Fig.  29.— Jupiter's  Moons.  Since  this  cut  was  made  two  more  moons 
have  been  discovered  farther  out  at  same  ratio  of  distance  and  speed. 

The  outside  circle  shows  the  size  of  original  supposed  nebula  which 
would  turn  as  the  rim  of  a  wheel,  as  the  whole  mass  turned. 


134  THE  PKOCEiSSION  OF  PLANETS 

in  approaching  the  center  of  its  binary  system  and  in 
fact,  that  all  condensed  matter  must  follow  as  it  falls  in 
an  orbit  to  its  center  of  convergence. 

The  little  moon  discovered  by  Prof.  Bernard,  we  must 
notice,  is  traveling  at  the  rate  of  1,350,000  miles  per  day 
and  must  have  gained  this  speed  by  falling  towards  Jup- 
iter. According  to  the  Nebular  Theory,  it  should  have 
been  thrown  out  from  Jupiter,  in  which  case  it  would  of 
course  have  Jupiter's  equatorial  speed,  which  is  only 
about  600,000  miles  per  day;  less  than  half  the  speed 
it  does  really  make.  When  we  get  into  the  belt  of  Aster- 
oids, this  side  of  Jupiter,  we  find,  as  we  know,  the  re- 
mains of  what  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  was  once 
a  great  burning  world  in  the  evolutionary  stage  from  a 
first  to  a  second  class  planet,  leaving  no  record  of  moons, 
but  entitled  to  no  less  than  four  according  to  the  regular 
ratio  of  satellites.  Within  the  last  few  years  several 
large  bodies  have  been  discovered  in  this  belt  or  orbit 
of  the  Asteroids,  one  of  which  is  now  believed  to  be  al- 
most the  size  of  our  own  moon,  and  three  others  larger 
than  the  greater  moon  of  Mars.  No  doubt  these  four 
large  Asteroids  may  really  be  the  outer  moons  of  the 
unfortunate  body.  The  inner  one  may  have  been  broken 
up  in  the  explosion,  since  being  such  small  bodies,  they 
must  all  have  been  cooled;  but  it  would  hardly  be  likely 
to  break  up  the  outer  ones.  The  outer  one  should  have 
been  600,000  miles  out  from  the  planet  in  making  its 
orbit,  1,200,000  miles  in  diameter.  We  may  be  sure  there 
are  at  least  three  large  bodies  in  the  orbital  path  of  the 
Asteroids;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  they  are  the 
moons  wanted  as  witnesses. 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  135 

When  we  reach  the  little  planet  Mars,  we  find  the 
number  of  its  moons  in  the  right  ratio,  but  their  size 
and  their  distance  from  the  planet  is  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  that  little  world.  Both  of  them  have  turned 
their  magnetic  poles  to  the  planet,  and  Phobus,  the 
smallest  and  nearest,  has  reached  such  great  speed  in 
its  fall,  that  it  travels  around  the  planet  three  times, 
while  the  planet  itself  rotates  once;  and  thus  as  we  have 
seen,  it  rises  in  the  west  and  sets  in  the  east. 

Some  moons  may  be  large  enough  to  have  created  in- 
ternal heat  as  planets  do,  by  the  friction  of  their  loose, 
hence  grinding  matter  causing  them  to  melt  as  planets 
do  and  as  our  moon  seems  to  have  been  melted.  One  of 
the  moons  in  Saturn's  retinue,  a  very  bright  one,  may  no 
doubt  now  be  in  a  molten  condition. 

In  one  particular,  moons  are  different  from  planets; 
they  cannot  keep  up  their  procession.  As  each  moon  is 
drawn  into  the  planet,  the  planet  has  one  moon  less  as 
we  have  seen,  because  all  moon  material  is  being  used 
by  the  new  planet  till  both  go  into  the  sun;  whereas, 
when  a  planet  is  drawn  into  the  sun,  a  new  planet  is 
forming  and  collecting  its  moons. 

When  we  reach  the  earth  we  find  our  moon,  240,000 
miles  distant,  making  its  orbit  in  28  days  and  with  one 
magnetic  pole  turned  to  the  earth.  It  is  known  to  have 
gained  on  its  orbit  four  times  its  own  breadth  since  the 
first  recorded  eclipses.  Prof.  Whe well's  Bridgewater 
Treatise,  page  128  says: 

The  fact  really  is  that  changes  are  taking  place  in  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  which  have  gone  on  progressively  from  the  first  dawn 
of  science.  The  moon  has  been  moving  quicker  from  the  first 

recorded    eclipses   and    is   now    in    advance    about    four    times    her    own 


136 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


breadth   of  what  her  own   place   would  have   been   if   it  had  not  been 
affected    by    this    acceleration.  The    obliquity    of    the    eclipse 

also,  is  in  a  state  of  diminution  and  is  now  about  two-fifths  of  a  degree 
less  than  it  was  in  the  time  of  Aristotle. 

Here  we  have  proof  that  the  moon  is  increasing  her 
speed  and  shortening  her  orbit.  The  same  infallible  law 
carries  her  nearer  to  the  earth,  which  carries  the  earth 
to  the  sun  and  the  sun  to  its  binary  companion. 

The  moon  seems  to  have  been  a  molten  bodv  at  some 


Fig.  30. — Showing  where  the  moon  has  been  pitted  by  falling  meteors 
or  asteroids. 


THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  137 

remote  period,  but  being  so  much  smaller  than  the  earth, 
it  has  apparently  cooled  to  the  center  and  absorbed  all 
its  atmosphere  and  water.  In  contracting  it  has  raised 
mountains,  that,  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  earth, 
are  five  times  as  high,  showing  that  the  crust  is  im- 
mensely thick,  if  indeed  not  cooled  to  the  center. 

One  of  the  most  curious  and  most  interesting  objects 
on  the  moon,  are  its  ring  mountains  which  are  supposed 
to  be  extinct  volcanoes.  These  happen  almost  any  place 
on  the  moon's  surface;  on  the  mountains,  plains  or  old 
sea  beds.  They  are  of  all  imaginable  sizes  in  diameter, 
from  a  few  hundred  feet  to  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
and  have  all  the  appearance  of  asteroids  and  meteors 
having  fallen  on  the  surface.  One  of  the  most  promin- 
ent objects  on  the  moon,  is  the  so-called  crater,  Coperni- 
cus. The  details  of  the  crater  itself  and  of  the  immedi- 
ate neighborhood,  reveal  the  unmistakable  evidence  of  a 
meteor  having  struck  there.  Lockyer's  "Elements  of 
Astronomy, "  page  119,  says: 

*  *  *  The  depth  of  the  crater  floor,  from  the  top  of  the  wall,  is 
11,300  feet  and  the  height  of  the  wall  above  the  general  surface  of  the 
moon  is  2,680  feet. 

Here,  then,  is  an  enormous  hole  thirty  miles  in  dia- 
meter and  more  than  9,000  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
moon.  The  entire  matter  of  the  wall  around  it,  which 
is  above  the  surface  of  the  moon,  if  scraped  off  level  and 
thrown  into  the  crater,  would  not  fill  it  more  than  one- 
fifth  full.  If  this  was  the  crater  of  a  volcano,  where, 
then  is  the  lava  that  came  out  of  that  part  already 
empty?  In  the  case  of  a  volcano  on  the  earth,  we  know 
that  the  material  thrown  out  is  thousands  of  times  more 
than  the  hollow  of  the  crater  in  sight.  In  fact  there  is 


138  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


Fig.  31.— Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado,  from  Bright  Angel  Hotel. 
A  railroad  now  runs  to  the  Canyon  from  Williams,  on  the  Santa  Fe  Rail- 
way, and  improved  hotel  accommodations  are  being  furnished  by  the 
railroad  company . 

such  a  vast  difference  that  we  never  think  of  making  a 
comparison.  On  the  contrary,  if  you  are  on  a  train  cross- 
ing the  bridge  spanning  the  great  Canyon  Diablo,  in 
New  Mexico,  even  children  will  wonder  where  the  dirt  is 
that  came  out  of  it.  It  is  in  the  same  direction  that  the 
material  is,  which  once  occupied  the  crater  of  Coper- 
nicus; driven  down  and  packed  underneath  the  asteroid 
that  fell  there.  A  part  of  this  was  pushed  up  to  form 
the  ring  wall,  and  by  close  observation  we  can  tell  at 
what  angle  the  asteroids  struck  the  moon,  by  the  shape 
of  the  ring  it  pushed  up  and  the  direction  taken  by  the 
ribs  or  rays  called  rilles,  which  run  out  from  it  and 
should  convince  us  of  the  nature  of  its  origin.  These 
rilles  are  certainly  plain  enough  evidence,  that  they  were 
raised  from  beneath  by  pressure  of  the  falling  asteroids. 
If  any  reader  doubt  this,  let  him  throw  a  good  sized  rock 
into  stiff  mud  and  note  the  result.  There  will  be  a  ring 
around  the  hole  the  rock  makes;  the  rock  will  be  seen 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  139 

sticking  in  the  center  of  the  hole  below  the  surface ;  there 
will  be  rilles  or  rays,  radiating  from  the  hole  and  inclined 
to  be  parallel  with  the  direction  taken  by  the  rock.  Then 
let  him  take  a  good  photograph  of  the  crater  Copernicus 
or  almost  any  ring  mountain  of  the  moon  and  note  the 
exact  resemblance.  Of  course  there  are  real  craters  as 
there  are  also  real  mountains  on  the  moon,  caused  by  con- 
traction in  cooling.  Dr.  M.  Willhelm  Meyer  in  his  ' '  End 
»of  the  World "  on  page  126  says: 

The  force  which  always  draws  heavenly  bodies  closer  together  will 
in  the  end  cause  the  moons  to  drop  upon  their  planets  and  these  again 
upon  their  respective  suns.  The  moons  will  first  unite  with  the  planets 
because  the  distance  they  have  to  cover  is  shorter.  All  the  planets  with 
the  exception  of  the  earth  and  Neptune,  which  is  the  farthest  from  the 
sun,  have  more  than  one  moon  if  they  have  any  at  all.  *  Taking 

all  things  into  consideration,  one  can  scarcely  doubt  that  the  rings  of 
Saturn  represent  the  product  of  the  disintegrating  action  of  the  gravita- 
tion of  a  number  of  the  planet's  moons.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that 
these  rings  are  composed  of  tiny  separate  particles,  each  having  an  inde- 
pendent movement  of  its  own.  The  innermost  of  the  rings  is  semi-trans- 
parent. This  ' '  gauze  ring, "  as  it  is  called,  is  probably  made  up  partially 
of  matter  which  originally  belonged  to  the  luminous  outer  rings  but 
which  lost  part  of  their  centrifugal  force  in  collisions  and  are  therefore 
now  dropping  in  a  spiral  path  upon  Saturn  as  meteors  of  a  special  kind, 
which  probably  do  not  injure  the  planet  any,  since  it  is  protected  by  a 
very  dense  atmosphere.  It  is  quite  possible  that  in  course  of  time,  the 
material  of  the  entire  ring  will  gradually  unite  with  the  planet  without 
producing  any  kind  of  catastrophe. 

The  above  is  along  the  line  of  a  procession  of  planets 
and  was  published  in  1905.  Dr.  Meyer  has  the  same  idea 
of  the  rings  of  Saturn  as  those  held  by  Wm.  Plotts  and 
published  in  Higher  Science  magazine  March  1904. 


XIV. 
COMETS. 

A  comet  is  a  small  body  of  material  which  gathers  too 
far  out  from  the  plane  of  the  sun's  equator  to  be  attracted 
as  the  moon  of  a  planet;  so,  having  very  little  motion,  it 
falls  more  nearly  in  a  direct  line  to  the  sun.  As  it  nears 
the  sun  it  gains  such  an  immense  speed  and  approaches 
so  near  to  the  sun  that  it  is  thrown  up  into  space  again, 
by  centrifugal  force,  gradually  losing  speed  until  it  falls 
again.  Comets  are  perhaps  the  most  wierd,  fascinating 
and  mysterious  of  all  celestial  bodies;  certainly  to  those 
who  have  but  their  eyes  with  which  to  investigate  the 
wonders  of  space.  There  is  nothing  so  startling  as  these 
sudden  and  formerly  unheralded  visitors,  unless  it  is  the 
short  moment  of  a  total  eclipse,  of  the  sun.  Altho  they 
are  so  light  and  gaseous  as  to  have  almost  no  influence  of 
attraction,  even  upon  the  smallest  visible  asteroids,  yet 
superstitious  fears  are  always  kindled  among  the  igno- 
rant, upon  the  arrival  of  a  new  comet  or  the  return  of  an 
old  one.  In  olden  days  they  were  looked  upon  by  the 
people,  as  heralds  of  all  kinds  of  dire  calamities ;  and  were 
always  a  harvest  time  for  the  priesthood.  The  Romans, 
however,  had  a  beautiful  belief  that  the  great  comet 
which  followed  the  death  of  Julius  Ceasar,  was  a  heaven- 
ly chariot  sent  to  convey  his  spirit  to  the  gods.  An  old 
English  writer  says: 

140 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


141 


142  THE  PBOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

Cometes  signifie  corruptions  of  the  ayge.  They  are  signs  of  earth- 
quakes, warres,  chaynging  kyngdoms,  'great  tlearthe  of  corn,  yea,  a 
common  death  of  man  and  beastie.  Experiance  is  an  eminent  evidence, 
that  a  comete,  like  a  sword,  portendeth  warre;  and  a  harry  or  a  comete 
with  a  beard  denoteth  the  death  of  kyngs. 

It  is  this  appendix  of  hair  and  beard  of  comets  now 
known  as  tails  that  I  wish  to  discuss  in  the  light  of  science 
and  more  especially  in  the  light  of  the  new  theory  of  a 
procession  of  planets.  You  will  remember  it  has  been 
shown  how  the  gas  of  expanded  matter  leaves  or  is  forced 
by  expansion  up  from  the  sun,  by  the  swift  disintegration 
of  matter  into  gas.  This  outward  force  of  expanding  gas 
or  heat  radiation  at  or  near  the  sun,  is  evinced  by  the  co- 
rona of  a  total  eclipse.  It  is  even  measurable  at  the  earth, 
but  continually  slower  as  it  leaves  the  sun,  as  there  is 
more  space  to  fill  with  gas  in  each  succeeding  orbit  of  the 
same  width.  Now  let  us  examine  the  motion  which  a  light 
body  like  a  comet  would  recieve  from  this  outward  or  up- 
ward motion  from  the  sun.  First  a  comet  is  always 
traveling  at  enormous  speed  before  it  reaches  the  vicinity 
of  this  fiery  gas  which  throws  a  fiery  shadow  away  from 
the  sun,  the  outer  end  of  which  (shadow)  must  travel 
thousands  of  times  faster  than  the  comet  itself  because 
the  outer  end  of  the.  tail  is  describing  a  circle  in  some 
cases  millions  of  miles  greater  than  the  comet's  nucleus. 
The  comet  itself  travels  sometimes  with  almost  the  speed 
of  light;  therefore  we  cannot  wonder  that  the  end  of  the 
tail  which  must  travel  thru  thousands  of  times  more 
space,  should  be  bent  backwards  in  the  shape  of  a  sword. 
The  closer  a  comet  comes  to  the  sun,  therefore,  the  great- 
er must  be  the  illumination  because  the  greater  is  the 
speed  of  both  the  comet  and  the  outgoing  gas  which  are 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


143 


thus  meeting  at  increasing  speeds,  making  the  shadowy 
tail  of  light,  still  longer  and  more  curved. 

Charles  Heintz,  of  San  Pedro,  Calif.,  in  his  "Common- 
sense  Theory  of  the  Universe, "  gives  the  best  explanation 
of  the  reason  why  a  comet's  tail  is  always  pointing  from 
the  sun,  that  I  have  ever  seen.  He  says  on  page  12: 

*  *  *  The  secret  of  this  rests  in  the  fact  that  the  light  of  the 
sun  being  so  much  lighter  than  the  fire,  the  sparks  and  firelight  lying 
under  the  greater  light  of  the  sun,  cannot  be  seen  by  us  if  such  fire  is 
removed.  In  the  same  manner  and  for  the  same  reason,  only  the  sparks 
lying  in  the  shadow  of  the  comet 's  nuclei  are  seen. 

What  solid  matter  there  is  in  a  comet 's  wake,  continues 
in  the  orbit  of  the  nucleus  or  head,  but  without  illumina- 
tion; and,  being  so  small  and  lighter  than  the  nucleus, 
falls  farther  and  farther  behind,  finally  becoming  me- 
teoric matter  to  fall  on  other  celestial  bodies  as  meteors. 


Fig. 33- -Comet's  tail. 


144  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

It  is  generally  supposed  by  astronomers  that  some 
comets  are  not  permanent  members  of  our  solar  system. 
This  error  is  due  to  calculating  the  partial  orbit  of  a 
comet  at  its  perihelion  or  nearest  curve  around  the  sun, 
where  its  speed  is  the  greatest  in  its  entire  orbit,  making 
centrifugal  force  so  strong  that  it  leaves  the  sun  before  it 
can  finish  the  perihelion  curve  of  an  ellipse.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  quotation  from  Gillett  and  Rolf's  Astronomy, 
page  291: 

*  *  *  Since  an  ellipse  is  a  closed  curve,  all  comets  that  move  in 
ellipses,  no  matter  how  'eccentric,  are  permanent  members  of  the  solar 
system  and  will  return  to  the  sun  at  intervals  of  greater  or  less  length, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  ellipse  and  the  rate  of  the  comet's  motion. 
Parabola  and  hyperbola  curves,  being  open  curves,  comets  that  move  in 
either  of  these  curves  are  only  temporary  members  of  our  solar  system. 
After  passing  the  sun,  they  move  off  into  space  never  to  return,  unless 
deflected  hither  by  the  action  of  some  heavenly  body  they  pass  on  their 
journey. 

Of  course  this  looks  reasonable  enough  and  the  mathe- 
matical calculation  would  confirm  it,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
fact  that  a  comet  continually  looses  its  speed  as  it  is 
thrown  up  from  the  sun  by  the  immense  centrifugal  force 
that  was  generated  in  its  fall.  It  was  the  centrifugal 
force  caused  by  the  immense  speed  it  gained  in  falling 
that  forced  it  to  make  a  parabola  or  hyperbola  curve  and 
these  forced  curves  could  only  last  until  the  speed  slack- 
ened enough  to  weaken  the  centrifugal  farce,  when  it  must 
come  back  to  the  curve  of  an  ellipse.  The  fact  that  its 
dropping  down  towards  the  sun,  gives  it  the  great  speed 
with  which  it  passes  partially  around  the  sun  in  its  peri- 
helion, is  sufficient  proof  that  it  must  loose  its  speed  and 
therefore,  centrifugal  force  again,  as  this  speed  throws 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  145 

it  up  from  the  sun.  Not  only  is  this  proved  by  analogy, 
but  by  measuring  the  increase,  of  speed  as  it  falls  toward 
the  sun  and  the  same  ratio  of  decreasing  speed  as  it  is 
thrown  up  again  by  this  acceleration  of  speed.  By  com- 
paring the  rate  of  speed  when  leaving  the  sun,  with,say 
100,000,000  miles  from  the  sun,  any  good  mathematical 
astronomer  should  be  able  to  determine  accurately  how 
far  it  must  travel  before  coming  to  a  standstill,  or  making 
the  same  short  curve  which  it  made  at  the  sun.  At  its 
aphelion  it  has  almost  lost  its  centrifugal  force,  because 
it  has  lost  its  speed;  but  it  has  not  and  never  can  lose  its 
orbital  motion,  therefore  must  close  its  orbit  at  its  outer  or 


Fig.  34,— The  great,  nebula?  in  Orion  which  is  the  the  nucleus  of  the 
next  world  which  will  follow  Neptune  to  the  Sun. 

upper  end  with  the  same  curve  it  made  at  the  sun,  but,  in 
immensely  longer  time.  What  its  great  speed  forced  it 
to  do  at  the  sun,  by  centrifugal  force,  its  lack  of  speed 
forces  it  to  do  at  the  far  away  aphelion  curve.  It  is  a 
self  evident  fact  that  if  a  comet  is  at  comparative  rest  in 
far  away  space  it  will  gradually  move  towards  the  near- 
est sun  of  greatest  attraction,  slowly  at  first  but  gradually 


146  THE  PKOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

faster  and  faster,  until  it  reaches  the  greatest  speed  at 
perihelion.  The  farther  it  fell,  the  greater  its  speed ;  and 
the  greater  its  speed  the  more  open  the  perihelion  curve, 
because  of  its  greater  centrifugal  force  and  it  is  thrown 
off  at  such  an  obtuse  angle  tfiat  it  could  never  enclose  an 
orbit  if  the  same  speed  were  kept  up.  This  speed  how- 
ever, not  being  kept  up,  it  gradually  loses  its  centrifugal 
force  as  it  loses  its  speed,  and  comes  gradually  back  to 
its  original  orbit  and  must  make  the  same  curve  which  it 
made  at  the  sun. 

We  can  watch  and  measure  the  increasing  and  decreas- 
ing speed  of  any  celestial  body  which  travels  in  an  ellip- 
tical orbit,  such  as  our  own  orbit  around  the  sun,  the  orbit 
of  our  satellite  around  the  earth  or  of  the  planet  Mercury. 
These  increase  their  speed  as  they  approach  their  peri- 
helion and  decrease  as  they  rise  again  towards  then 
aphelion  as  I  have  shown  you  in  the  figure. 

The  reason  we  cannot  watch  a  comet  close  its  orbit  at 
aphelion,  is  because  its  slow  speed  at  that  end  makes  no 
illumination  and  the  body  itself  is  so  small  and  at  such  a 
great  distance,  that  no  telescope  is  able  to  reveal  it.  The 
idea  that  any  celestial  body  which  is  once  attracted  to 
make  an  orbit  around  the  sun,  could  thereby  gain  speed 
sufficient  to  throw  it  higher  than  the  attraction  of  the  sun, 
into  the  region  of  the  attraction  of  some  other  sun,  is  as 
ridiculous  and  unscientific  as  to  attempt  to  lift  oneself 
over  the  fence  by  the  bootstraps  and  is  a  mathematical 
impossibility.  Astronomical  curves  of  orbits  take  cave 
of  themselves  on  lines  of  least  resistance,  (which  will  soon 
be  admitted),  by  generating  and  losing  centrifugal  force. 

When  once  a  body  forms  from  expanded  gas  of  matter 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


t 
147 


from  the  sun,  it  can  never  gain  speed  enough  to  get  away 
from  the  sun  and  the  more  eccentric  its  orbit,  the  more  it 
is  retarded  by  its  forced  curve  at  perihelion.  This  is 
fully  illustrated  and  proved  by  the  action  of  both  Fay's 
and  Encke's  comets.  There  can  be  no  possibility  of  any 
matter  which  comes  from  the  sun,  ever  leaving  the  influ- 
ence of  the  sun's  gravity.  It  may  fall  back  around  the 


Fig.  35.— Port  Los  Angeles,  three  miles  from  Santa  Monica,  and  about 
twenty  miles  from  Los  Angeles,  showing  the  longest  wharf  in  the  world, 
about  a  mile  in  length,  to  deep  water.  Showing  rising  coast- 

sun  with  almost  the  speed  of  lightning  and  yet  as  soon  as 
it  leaves  the  vicinity  of  the  sun,  or  is  thrown  up  again  by 
centrifugal  force,  the  attraction  of  that  great  central  body 
is  pulling  and  trying  to  draw  it  back  and  back  it  must 
come  sooner  or  later,  while  each  returning  trip  must  be 
made  in  less  time  and  shorter  orbits. 

Since  it  has  been  proved  beyond  doubt  that  some  of  the 
comets  (notably  Encke's  and  Fay's),  our  own  moon,  the 
rings  of  Saturn  and  the  planet  Mercury  are  actually 


148  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

shortening  their  orbits,  a  great  deal  has  been  said  about 
"the  resisting  medium. "  The  truth  seems  to  have  been 
gradually  dawning  upon  real  astronomers,  that  celestial 
bodies  do  not  forever  follow  the  same  path;  and  they, 
therefore,  are  looking  for  a  "resisting  medium"  with 
which  to  check  the  advance  of  these  bodies,  so  they  may 
travel  more  slowly  and  be  allowed  to  fall  to  the  center  of 
their  orbits.  They  will  however  never  find  a  body  in 
space  traveling  more  slowly  as  it  falls,  because  fall- 
ing always  increases  the  speed  and  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  it  to  do  otherwise.  It  is  only  when  a  comet  or 
other  body  is  receding  from  the  sun  in  an  eliptic  orbit 
that  it  decreases  its  speed.  When  Newton  discovered  the 
force  of  gravity,  he  discovered  the  resisting  medium 
which  shortens  the  orbit  of  every  celestial  body,  from  the 
size  of  an  atom  of  crystallized  dust  to  the  sun  which  would 
fill  our  solar  system  with  its  immense  bulk.  Gravity  is  a 
drawing  or  contracting  power  which  holds  or  draws  a 
body  back  towards  the  center  from  which  it  came  and  it 
should  not  take  much  of  a  philosopher  to  understand 
what  medium  of  resistance  shortens  an  orbit,  now  that 
they  have  found  that  orbits  do  shorten.  With  this  im- 
mense power  of  gravity  pulling  against  the  earth,  trying 
to  pull  it  to  the  sun,  what  equally  great  power  could  push 
or  keep  it  away  from  the  sun?  It  is  claimed  that  the 
speed  of  a  celestial  body  keeps  it  away  by  overcoming 
the  force  of  gravity.  On  the  face  of  it  this  is  a  fallacy; 
for  then,  what  great  power  could  keep  up  its  speed? 
There  must  needs  be  a  constant  power  applied  to  over- 
come a  constant  pulling  power  towards  the  sun.  Not 
only  does  a  "resisting  medium"  fail  to  resist  and  check 


PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  149 

its  speed  but  constantly  increases  this  speed  the  nearer  a 
planet  comes  to  the  sun,  or  the  nearer  a  moon  comes  to  a 
planet.  It  could  not  have  this  speed  and  constantly  in- 
crease it,  except  by  falling;  the  power  that  gives  every 
celestial  body  its  ever  increasing  speed  as  it  nears  its 
center.  Astronomers  not  understanding  this,  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  speaking  and  thinking  of  the  speed  of  a  celes- 
tial body  as  being  imparted  to  it  by  some  unknown  first 
cause,  giving  it  a  mighty  push  or  throw  into  space,  and 
they  have  let  it  go  at  that.  Now,  if  they  will  drop  this 
idea  of  a  first  great  energy  which,  if  unrenewed,  must  di- 
minish, and  see  that  this  energy  is  caused  simply  by  fall- 
ing they  will  see  that  it  is  self-creative  and  self -operating. 
The  energy  of  falling  has  operated  stronger  on  Mercury 
than  upon  Neptune,  because  it  has  acted  longer;  thus 
causing  Mercury  to  be  traveling  ten  times  faster  than 
Neptune.  Thus  we  see  it  is  really  reduced  to  a  question 
of  weight.  We  also  see  that  whatever  power  or  energy 
was  required  to  expand  matter  to  the  height  of  Neptune 's 
orbit,  will  be  reproduced  when  it  returns  to  the  sun. 


XV. 

MATHEMATICAL  PROOF  OF  A  PROCESSION. 

There  is  a  strange  sequence  or  ratio  between  the  speed 
with  which  the  planets  travel  and  their  distance  from  the 
sun  which  is  absolute  proof  of  their  continual  falling  to 
the  sun.  I  have  already  given  the  table  of  ratio,  which 
is  Bode's  law  and  is  the  table  by  which  the  missing  aster- 
oids were  discovered.  Commencing  at  Mercury  we  ap- 
proximately double  the  distance  to  reach  the  next  planet 
and  so  on;  each  one  about  twice  as  far  away  as  the  last. 
Why  should  the  planets  be  arranged  in  this  perfect  ratio 
thru  space,  if  there  is  not  a  good  reason  for  it  ?  Of  course 
it  does  not  happen  by  chance,  because  there  is  no  chance 
and  changing  mind  in  nature  to  interfere  with  the  law  of 
their  arrangements.  They  simply  follow  the  line  of  least 
resistance  back  to  the  sun.  Commencing  at  Neptune  and 
coming  in  towards  the  sun,  we  find  the  same  ratio  in  the 
increase  of  their  speed  along  their  orbits  that  we  have  in 
their  distance  from  the  sun;  and  little  Mercury  is  travel- 
ing ten  times  as  fast  as  slowfooted  Neptune,  which,  while 
almost  one  hundred  times  as  far  away  as  Mercury,  has 
comparatively  only  begun  to  fall. 

Let  us  compare  the  speed  and  distance  of  these  planets 
that  we  may  be  prepared  to  make  a  law,  or  rather  to  un- 
derstand the  simple  law  which  they  follow,  have  always 
followed  and  must  follow  forever.  The  table  below 

150 


THE  PBOCESSION  OP  PLANETS  151 

shows  the  distance  of  each  planet  from  the  sun  and  its 
speed  along  its  orbit. 

Planet  Miles  per  day        Distance  to  Sun 

Mercury  2,454,500  36,000,000 

Venus  1,860,000  67,000,000 

Earth  1,260,000  93,000,000 

Mars  1,100,000  141,000,000 

Asteroids  811,000  240,000,000 

Jupiter  660,000  483,000,000 

Saturn  490,000  885,000,000 

Uranus  350,000  1,770,000,000 

Neptune  274,000  2,800,000,000 

With  the  above  table  for  a  basis,  does  not  the  greater 
speed  of  the  nearer  planets  to  the  sun,  prove  that  they 
have  been  farther  away  some  time  in  the  past?  Take 
Mercury  for  example,  which  moves  at  the  rate  of  two  and 
a  half  millions  miles  per  day.  This  must  prove  one  of 
two  things ;  it  was  not  thrown  out  from  the  sun  as  a  mass, 
in  which  case  it  would  only  move  at  the  rate  of  the  sun's 
equator,  or  else  it  was  much  farther  away  and  has  gained 
its  great  speed  by  falling  towards  the  sun. 

At  the  slow  rate  of  speed  at  which  Neptune  travels, 
there  is  very  little  centrifugal  force  against  it,  and  it 
drops  towards  the  sun  1,500,000,000  miles  in  400,000,000 
years,  while  Mercury  moving  at  such  enormous  speed, 
only  nears  the  sun  16,000,000  miles  during  the  same  time, 
because  the  checking  power  of  centrifugal  force  is  so 
much  greater.  To  be  sure  the  force  of  gravity  is  also 
much  greater  at  Mercury  than  at  Neptune  but  centrifugal 
force  is  not  equal  to  the  force  of  gravity,  as  was  supposed 


1£2  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF 

by  Newton.  While  Neptune  is  coming  in  towards  the 
sun  1,500,000,000  miles,  Uranus  only  comes  in  half  as  far, 
because  its  speed  is  doubled;  thus  adding  centrifugal 
force  and  checking  its  approach  to  the  sun  that  much. 
Therefore  we  find  them  shortening  their  orbits  and  in- 
creasing their  speed  as  they  approach  the  sun. 
As  a  planet  moves  around  the  sun  in  an  ellipse,  it  travels 
faster  when  on  that  part  of  its  orbit,  where  it  is  approach- 
ing the  sun,  and  more  slowly  where  receeding  as  we  have 
already  seen.  Comets  are  an  excellent  example  of  this 
law.  As  they  drop  towards  the  sun  in  a  more  nearly 
straight  line  than  any  other  body  they  gain  speed  more 
rapidly  as  they  fall  and  also  lose  their  speed  more  rap- 
idly when  thrown  up  again  by  the  enormous  centrifugal 
force.  Comets  are  governed  by  the  same  laws  that  gov- 
ern planets,  but  upon  an  exaggerated  scale,  which  offers 
us  the  opportunity  to  measure  the  exact  difference  be- 
tween the  force  of  gravity  and  centrifugal  force.  In  the 
case  of  Encke's  comet,  this  shortening  of  its  orbit  meas- 
ured in  time,  is  about  three  hours  in  an  orbit  of  three 
years.  If  a  planet  is  one  million  miles  nearer  the  sun,  than 
formerly,  it  has  fallen  that  far  altlio  it  may  have  taken 
ages  of  circling  in  a  great  decreasing  or  spiral  orbit  and 
it  has  gained  speed  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  falling 
bodies  minus  the  check  it  receives  from  centrifugal  force. 

Considering  all  the  facts  now  before  us,  we  find  the  law 
governing  their  speed  and  distance  from  the  sun  is  per- 
fectly plain;  so  plain,  in  fact,  that  if  one  is  missing  we  can 
find  its  scattered  remains  with  a  camera,  where  the  law 
would  place  it.  The  law  then,  is  this: 

The  planets  increase  their  speed  along  their  orbits  by 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


153 


i'alling  towards  the  sun,  in  the  same  inverse  ratio  with 
which  they  decrease  the  diameter  of  their  orbits. 

Commencing  at  Mercury  with  our  ratio  of  distance  we 
could  go  on  doubling  the  distance  according  to  Bode's 
ratio  12  more  times  out  from  Neptune's  orbit  and  yet  be 
within  the  sun's  influence  of  gravity,  halfway  to  Alpha 
Centura. 

We  know  the  weight  of  both  Neptune  and  the  sun  and 
their  distance  from  each  other;  therefore  we  know  the 
value  of  attraction  of  gravity  between  them.  By  finding 
the  relative  value  of  centrifugal  force  and  the  force  of 
gravity,  by  means  of  comets,  we  can  soon  be  able  to  estab- 
lish the  age  of  planets  and  satellites. 


Fig.  36. 


XVI. 

THE  CRUST  OF  THE  EARTH. 

Judging  by  the  volcanoes  which  emit  molten  lava;  by 
the  increase  of  heat  as  holes  are  bored  to  great  depths, 
and  by  the  appearance  of  stratas  of  different  ages;  it  is 
supposed  that  the  earth  has  been  a  molten  mass  and  has 
cooled  to  the  depth  of  about  fifty  miles. 

This  is  also  surmised  by  the  condition  of  other  planets 
and  bodies  in  space,  which  are  of  different  ages  and 
stages  of  heating  or  cooling. 

I  have  referred  to  this  in  other  chapters  and  am  con- 
tent to  refer  you  to  geologists  who  have  made  that  sub- 
ject a  life  study.  Evolution  is  also  a  profitabe  study, 
showing  how  life  has  developed  since  the  surface  of  the 
earth  commenced  to  cool  on  up  thru  the  different  stratas 
to  the  present  time. 

Outside  of  what  I  have  already  shown  you  of  the  prob- 
able cause  of  the  glacial  period,  I  have  no  objections  to 
the  general  opinion  of  geologists  and  evolutionists,  ex- 
cept upon  the  subject  of  oil  and  coal. 

I  have  had  many  years  experience  and  study  upon  these 
subjects  and  more  especially  on  the  subject  of  coal  forma- 
tions. Many  years  ago  I  began  the  study  of  coal  forma- 
tion on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  discovered  that  the  prevail- 
ing idea  that  coal  was  formed  ages  ago  from  vast  depos- 
ites  of  timber  and  other  bodies  of  buried  vegetation,  is  an 

154 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  155 

error.  It  would  be  impossible  for  this  to  be  the  case,  be- 
cause it  could  not  be  buried  in  a  body  and  be  free  enough 
from  dirt  and  foreign  matter  to  form  coal,  unless  there 
was  some  agency  to  purify  it  after  it  was  buried  under 
drift.  Studying  and  experimenting  upon  the  subject,  I 
found  instead  of  being  a  finished  product  of  remote  ages, 
it  is  a  continual  process.  Coal  is  still  being  deposited  in 
the  bottom  of  seas  and  lakes,  the  same  as  in  former  ages 
and  is  growing  better  and  better  continually. 

The  difference  of  the  quality  of  the  coal  found  wast  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada  range  of  mountains,  with  its  exten- 
sions and  the  coal  found  east  of  this  range  as  far  as  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  attracted  my  attention 
a  number  of  years  ago  following  a  considerable  experi- 
ence with  and  study  of  coal,  at  Elsinore,  San  Diego  Coun- 
ty, California,  and  a  careful  analysis  of  that  subject  in 
connection  with  other  substances,  finally  laid  the  foun- 
dation in  my  mind,  out  of  which  evolved  the  discovery 
of  a  Procession  of  Planets. 

Beginning  with  the  western  Pacific  coast  or  that  por- 
tion west  of  the  great  Sierra  Nevada  range,  thru  North 
America  and  west  of  the  Andes  thru  South  America,  we 
find  the  land  has,  comparatively,  recently  come  up  from 
the  western  ocean  and  is  gradually  rising;  so  much  in- 
deed that  there  are  but  few  harbors  south  of  the  state 
of  Washington,  altho  we  find  outlines  of  harbors,  inland 
from  the  coast,  oyster  beds  on  the  foothills,  belts  of  pe- 
troleum and  many  other  sure  evidences  of  its  recent  sub- 
mersion. In  all  this  region  we  find  basins  of  coal  of  a 
very  inferior  quality  and  of  recent  formation.  Indeed* 
it  can  scarcely  be  classed  as  coal  except  for  the  reason 


156 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


Fig.  37.-  Spiral  Nebula  in  Canis  Venatici- 

that  it  is  the  raw  material  or  mud  from  which  coal  is  final- 
ly evolved.  The  coals  at  Elsinore,  Tuscon,  Mt.  Diablo, 
Tessler  and  other  points  along  the  coast  west  of  the  Si- 
erras are  of  the  same  recent  formation,  readily  decom- 
posing when  exposed  to  the  air,  and  sufficiently  charged 
with  oil  and  gas  to  cause  spontaneous  combustion  while 
still  in  the  mines  if  the  airways  are  not  properly  laid 
^out,  so  as  to  counteract  instead  of  augment  the  genera- 
tion of  electricity— which  is  heat. 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  157 

The  chemical  analysis  of  these  coals  average  about  as 
follows:  Moisture  13.55;  fixed  carbon,  26.65;  volatile 
gases,  36.50;  sulphur,  4.05;  ash,  19.25.  The  sand  in  which 
they  occur,  shows  a  very  recent  formation  when  com- 
pared with  the  old  sandstones  of  the  Mojave  desert,  east 
of  the  Sierras.  Their  shales  are  so  highly  charged  with 
petroleum  that  they  are  easily  lighted  when  held  to  a 
lighted  match.  The  roofs  and  floors  scarcely  take  the 
dignity  of  age  due  even  to  fire  clays,  much  less  soapstone 
or  slate,  and  are  still  more  or  less  mixed  up  and  impure. 
In  this  region  of  recent  sumbersion,  we  find  many  belts 
of  petroleum,  for  which  we  must  always  look  in  most  re- 
cent formations  inasmuch  as  it  is  perhaps,  the  most  tem- 
porary and  easily  set  free  of  any  mineral  in  nature.  Be- 
ing lighter  than  water  and  easily  converted  into  gas,  it  is 
always  being  driven  from  place  to  place  under  pressure 
and  ready  to  escape  at  the  first  opportunity  offered  by  a 
volcanic  or  earthquake  crack.  It  is  scarcely  ever  found 
in  old  formations  which  have  stood  the  change  of  ages. 

Going  east  of  the  Sierras,  across  the  great  interior 
basin,  to  the  summit  of  the  Eocky  Mountain  range,  we 
find  a  much  older  formation  of  sandstone,  with  a  much 
older  and  purer  coal  formation.  No  oil  or  soft  coal  of 
the  western  coast  is  found,  save  in  certain  basins  of  re- 
cent inland  seas.  The  coal  is  of  a  bright,  pure  quality 
of  Lignite,  such  as  is  found  at  Gallup,  New  Mexico; 
Randsburg,  California;  Yellowstone  Park,  Wyoming; 
parts  of  Utah,  Colorado,  Nevada  and  other  states  and 
territories  of  the  Great  Basin.  All  these  coals  show 
about  the  same  age,  purity  and  general  quality ;  and  must 
have  been  raised  from  the  sea  at  nearly  the  same  time; 


158 


THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


Fig.  38. 


perhaps  cut  off  by  the  Sierra  Nevada  range,  and  the  low- 
er basins  remaining  inland  seas  for  ages,  as  the  Great 
Salt  Lake  still  testifies.  The  average  analysis  of  these 
coals  is  as  follows:  Moisture,  8.25;  volatile  gases,  35.32; 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  159 

fixed  carbon,  45.37;  sulphur,  2.06;  ash,  9.00.  This  is  the 
analysis  of  the  coal  in  the  large  veins  recently  found  at 
Randsburg,  California, 

The  great  difference  in  purity  and  quality  of  the  two 
kinds  of  coal,  shows  us  that  during  the  millions  of  years 
since  the  latter  came  out  of  the  sea,  some  powerful  agent 
has  been  at  work  purifying  it;  drawing  it  together  and 
abstracting  those  materials  which  are  not  carbon,  but 
which  are  now  found  in  layers  above  and  below  it.  But, 
it  is  still  far  from  being  the  best  of  coal;  and  when  we 
go  now  to  the  basin  known  as  the  Mississippi  valley,  be- 
tween the  Rocky  and  Allegheny  ranges,  we  find  a  forma- 
tion still  more  pure  and  condensed,  than  the  Lignite  coal 
west  of  the  Rockies,  showing  that  the  process  of  separa- 
tion and  purification  has  been  going  on  for  millions  of 
years  and  still  goes  on. 

Still  farther  east,  beyond  the  summit  of  the  Alleghen- 
ies  we  find  anthracite  coal;  the  oldest  and  purest  per- 
haps, that  nature  can  produce.  Its  clay  and  soapstones 
are  hard  and  its  sandstones  so  ancient  that  they  can 
hardly  be  told  from  the  metamorphic  rock.  Here  it  is 
again  sinking  into  the  sea,  not  for  the  first  time  per- 
haps, for  who  can  tell  how  many  times  nature  takes  mat- 
ter around  the  same  cycles  on  a  plane,  in  the  course  of 
a  hundred  million  years. 

After  a  molten  planet  commences  to  cool  and  form  a 
crust,  according  to  the  Processional  Theory,  there  is  a 
force  at  work  separating  matter  into  its  elements.  This 
force— which  for  the  sake  of  argument,  I  have  called 
gravity— is  crystallization,  polarization,  or  that  force  or 
attraction  which  always  attracts  'Mike  to  like."  It  is 


160  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

not  impossible  that  magnetic  attraction  lias  a  great  in- 
fluence in  this  purification  of  coal  and  other  elements  of 
matter,  nor  at  all  improbable  when  we  bring  to  mind  the 
wonderful  experiments  of  Prof.  Elmer  Gates,  who  show- 
ed that  electricity  is  actually  a  common  carrier  of  ma- 
terial (see  Everybody's  Magazine,  May,  1901).  We  need 
not  be  surprised  if  that  ever  active,  ever  present  agent  is 
not  also  largely  responsible  for  the  well  known  attrac- 
tion of  "like  to  like."  Whatever  the  assistant  force 
may  be  which  helps  to  do  the  work  of  purification,  we 
have  here*  in  these  four  great  divisions  of  coal  of  suc- 
cessive ages,  the  unmistakable  evidence  of  its  perfect 
work.  First  we  see  the  muddy  beds  of  soft  newly  form- 
ed valueless  coal,  just  raised  from  the  western  sea;  sec- 
ond the  lignites  of  the  Great  Basin;  third,  the  bitumin- 
ous coal  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  and,  fourth,  the  An- 
thracite coal  of  the  eastern  coast;  each  one  purer,  bet- 
ter, older  and  harder  than  the  one  following.  Will  any 
philosopher  or  scientist  have  the  hardihood  to  believe 
that  anthracite  coal  was  always  as  pure  from  foreign 
matter  as  it  is  now,  or  that  the  western  coast  "dirty 
coal ' '  will  never  become  pure  ?  We  cannot  even  imagine 
a  deposit  of  any  material  that  would  make  coal  in  a  suf- 
ficiently pure  state  to  be  anthracite.  Even  Prof.  Vail's 
"Annular  Theory"  of  falling  carbon  could  not  provide 
for  the  sinking  of  carbon  to  the  bottom  of  seas,  unless  it 
was  mixed  with  heavier  material,  at  first.  A  growth  of 
timber  100  feet  thick  could  not  be  covered  with  drift 
without  being  penetrated  in  every  part  by  sand  and  dirt ; 
the  soil  it  grew  in,  would  be  mixed  thru  it  and  its  rotten 
logs  and  leaves  would  be  more  ash  than  carbon.  Such  a 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  161 

supposition  would  not  be  tenable  even  in  the  case  of  pure 
asphaltum  or  peat,  the  specific  gravity  of  which  would 
not  permit  it  to  settle  on  the  bottom  of  seas  where  strata 
must  first  form  from  vegetable  matter.  The  coal  beds 
which  are  forever  forming  in  the  basins  of  the  seas  and 
lakes  are  composed  of  any  kind  of  vegetation,  leaves,  and 
fortified  by  the  growths  it  generates  in  the  sea,  and  the 
graveyards  of  marine  life.  At  first  these  beds  containing 


Fig.  39.— Viewlin  the  Milky  Way. 


162  THE  PKOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

carbon  must  be  attracted  to  the  richest  point  by  the  proc- 
esses with  which  gravity  (?)  does  its  work,  drawing  the 
carbon  closer  together,  drawing  out  the  clays,  in  layers  or 
veins  by  themselves  and  leaving  the  sands  to  form  sand- 
stone in  layers.  The  oil  is  also  drawn  into  a  separated 
condition,  distilled,  no  doubt,  by  the  heat  pressure  as  il- 
lustrated by  Wm.  Plotts,  in  his  book,  ' '  The  Formation  of 
Coal  and  Petroleum/' 

In  order  to  convince  us  that  these  coal  veins  are  drawn 
together  and  purified  from  beds  of  mud,  is  it  not  enough 
to  examine  these  four  coal  divisions  of  the  United  States, 
the  ages  of  their  formation  and  their  degrees  of  purity? 
We  know  that  other  substances  contained  in  bodies  of 
drift,  are  always  changing  and  gathering  into  seams. 
The  most  noticeable  of  these,  perhaps,  is  lime  which,  as 
spars  of  different  kinds  we  find  being  drawn  into  little 
seams  even  in  very  recent  drift;  and  this  being  the  case, 
why  not  the  same  with  coal?  This  certainly  holds  good 
in  the  case  of  all  elements  which  have  been  mixed  by 
water  in  the  formation  drift.  In  very  recent  drifts  I  have 
noted  little  seams  of  lime  forming;  all  the  lime  on  both 
sides  of  the  seams  for  many  feet  being  drawn  into  the 
seams.  To  prove  that  it  is  doing  so,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  follow  a  seam  down  and  observe  that  it  grows  wider 
and  wider  as  the  drift  below  grows  older  and  older.  I 
mention  lime  as  an  example  because  it  is  usually  more 
plentiful  in  drift  and  seems  to  be  the  first  element  to 
respond  to  the  attracting  force  and  show  this  chemical 
action.  In  the  case  of  coal,  the  stratas  lay  horizontal 
to  the  curvature  of  the  earth— attracting  from  above 
and  below  at  the  strata  where  the  mud  is  richest  in  car- 


THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS  163 

bon— and  gradually  abstract  all  the  carbon  within  ten  or 
twenty  feet  above  and  below.  Next  to  the  coal,  the  silica 
gathers,  forming  clays;  the  sand  thus  being  left  to  itself, 
becomes  almost  pure  sandstone.  There  is  also  almost 
always  iron  in  some  form;  this  usually  gathers  together 
in  some  strata  of  the  sandstone  in  the  form  of  sulphides 
of  iron  from  which  is  made  sulphuric  acid.  In  this  west- 
ern count ry,  this  strata  of  iron— when  not  rich  enough 
to  make  a  solid  strata— is  usually  made  up  of  balls  of 
iron  crystals  of  all  sizes,  round  in  form  and  sometimes 
crowding  each  other  so  much  as  to  cause  indentures  in 
the  later  formations  by  those  that  formed  first.  These 
are  called  by  miners  sulphur  balls;  and  are  exceedingly 
hard  annoying  miners  and  drillers  of  oil  wells  by  break- 
ing drills  and  well  tools.  They  are  so  hard  that,  when 
exposed  by  erosion  of  wash,  they  often  stand  for  centur- 
ies protecting  the  sandstone  directly  beneath  them  from 
the  rain  till  they  appear  like  huge  mushrooms.  One  ex- 
ample of  this  is  seen  in  the  Heald  coal  field  near  Kands- 
burg.  It  is  some  twenty  feet  high,  the  sulphur  ball  at 
the  top  eight  feet  in  diameter,  the  column  itself  grad- 
ually tapering  from  the  sulphur  ball  at  the  top  to  a  much 
larger  diameter  near  the  ground  where  it  has  been  ex- 
posed a  shorter  time.  There  are  dozens  of  these  "  stone 
trees "  or  * i mushrooms ' '  in  this  coal  district;  they  are 
of  all  sizes  and  millions  of  them  have  often  fallen  in  great 
piles.  Since  discovering  the  coal  fields  near  Eandsburg 
in  1895,  I  have  found  other  absolute  proof  of  this  motion 
of  matter  which  attracts  like  to  like.  In  November,  1903, 
I  had  occasion  to  visit  the  coal  mines  in  company  with 
an  agent  identified  with  steel  and  coal  interests.  While 


164 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


40, 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  165 

waiting  at  the  little  station  of  Kramer,  on  the  Mojave 
desert,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  an  old  friend  of 
mine  who  had  his  hands  and  pockets  full  of  what  he 
termed  "petrified  yucca"  which  he  had  just  gathered, 
and  would,  he  informed  us,  ' '  burn  like  coal, ' '  and  which 
we  found  to  be  the  case.  Now  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
ordinary  dead  yucca  wood,  altho  very  light,  will  extin- 
guish the  best  fire  that  desert  fuel  will  make;  so  we  were 
of  course  greatly  interested.  Upon  examination,  we 
found  this  new  fuel  to  be  actually,  coal.  The  yucca,  be- 
ing carbon,  had  acted  as  a  center,  drawn  upon  the  soil 
for  carbon,  and  become  filled  with  coal.  Investigating 
further,  we  found  the  best  of  it  had  been  partially  buried 
in  the  soil ;  but,  in  many  cases  we  found  dead  yucca  trees 
thirty  to  forty  feet  high,  carbonized  as  high  as  four  feet 
from  the  ground.  This  phenomenon  of  coal  forming 
under  our  eyes,  from  carbon  in  the  soil,  is  positive  proof 
that  coal  purifies  itself  from  mud,  carrying  vegetation  or 
carbon  in  any  shape,  drawing  and  purifying  itself  from 
deposits  of  mud,  and  that  it  will  always  do  so,  as  long 
as  rain  falls  upon  the  earth,  carrying  vegetable  deposits 
of  carbon  into  the  seas  or  lakes. 

There  are  certain  conditions  under  which  anthracite 
may  and  does  exist  in  the  Great  Basin,  between  the  Si- 
erra Nevada  and  Eocky  mountain  ranges.  Prof.  Bailey 
of  the  California  State  Geological  force,  informs  me  of 
several  such  occurrences  observed  by  himself;  one  in 
Mexico,  one  in  Wyoming  and  one  near  Gallup  in  New 
Mexico.  He  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  same  will  be  the 
case  with  the  coal  in  the  Kandsburg  mines,  as  the  lower 
vein  there  indicates  by  breaking  in  curves  like  glass. 


166  THE  PBOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

These  anthracites  are  not  caused  by  age,  but  by  condi- 
tions of  heat  which  have  existed  where  volcanoes  have 
come  up  thru  the  coal  formations  as  is  the  case  at  the 
Bandsburg  mines.  That  the  mountains  of  the  earth  are 
sometimes  raising,  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that 
stratas  of  comparatively  recent  sandstones — which  of 
course  laid  level  while  forming— are  raised  to  great 
heights  on  mountain  sides  sometimes  pitching  almost 
45  degrees.  While  prospecting  for  coal  I  have  found  two 
notable  instances  of  this;  one  at  the  northwest  end  of 
the  Elsinore  mountain  range  in  Orange  County,  Califor- 
nia, the  other  on  the  northwest  slope  of  the  Golar  moun- 
tains in  Kern  County,  California. 

Altho  the  erosion  is  great,  it  does  not  keep  pace  with 
these  wrinkles  formed  by  a  cooling  planet. 

Prof.  Oscar  P.  Heinzeil  of  California  declares  that  throughout  the 
eastern  sections  of  the  United  States  the  recent  eruptions  of  Mt.  Pelee 
have  caused  noticeable  elevations.  He  claims  to  have  discovered  places 
along  the  sea  coast  and  in  the  interior  where  the  ground  has  risen 
from  three  to  ten  feet.  Prof.  Heinzel  says  that  along  the  Atlantic  coast 
it  is  noticeable  that  the  tide  does  not  reach  the  height  it  formerly  did 
by  from  four  to  ten  feet  and  that  as  far  inland  as  Harrisburg,  Penn., 
elevations  of  four  feet  have  been  noted. — Times. 

If  the  above  is  finally  confirmed,  it  is  a  matter  of 
more  interest  and  importance  than  seen  at  first  sight. 
The  entire  Atlantic  coast  has  been  gradually  settling 
into  the  sea  for  ages;  as  shown  by  its  many  excellent 
harbors,  while  at  the  same  time  the  Pacific  coast  has 
been  rising  as  shown  by  its  lack  of  harbors.  Records 
kept  since  the  founding  of  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  show 
a  recorded  settling  of  eight  inches  during  each  century. 
This  has  no  doubt  been  the  result  of  the  weight  of  water 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  167 

caused  by  the  revolution  of  the  earth  from  west  to  east 
backing  it  up  against  the  eastern  coasts  and  relieving 
the  western  coasts  of  the  same  amount  of  weight.  At 
the  isthmus  of  Panama  where  it  was  possible  for  the 
government  to  make  an  accurate  survey,  on  account  of 
the  short  distance  between  the  two  great  oceans,  the  dif- 
ference in  water  levels  is  38  feet.  To  substantiate  this 
theory  of  the  weight  of  water  being  the  cause  of  the 
gradual  sinking  of  eastern  coasts  and  rising  of  western 
coasts  we  must  remember  that  the  earth  revolves  on  its 
axis  at  the  rate  of  1000  miles  per  hour  at  the  equator, 
where  the  water  would  therefore  be  backed  up  the  high- 
est on  an  eastern  coast  and  receded  the  most  on  a  west 
ern  coast;  the  difference  growing  gradually  less  as  we 
go  farther  north  or  south  towards  the  poles,  where  the 
earth  has  little  or  no  axial  motion  and  therefore  little  or 
no  difference  of  weight  of  water  on  its  eastern  and 
western  coasts.  For  this  reason  we  should  find  eastern 
coasts  at  or  near  the  equator  settling  faster  and  western 
coasts  rising  faster  than  those  farther  north  or  south; 
and  this  condition  seems  to  be  the  case  where  coasts  are 
running  reasonably  near  north  and  south.  Perhaps  if 
Prof.  HeintzePs  observations  prove  to  be  correct  they 
may  be  only  local;  inasmuch  as  it  would  take  a  greater 
disturbance  than  the  Mt.  Pelee  eruption  to  suddenly 
raise  the  entire  Atlantic  coast,  contrary  to  natural 
forces  by  means  of  which  it  must  steadily  incline  to 
sink. 

The  terrible  volcanic  disasters  in  the  British  West 
Indies  in  1902  whereby  tens  of  thousands  of  human  be- 
ings were  swept  suddenly  out  of  existence,  has  called 


168 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


forth  many  conflicting  opinions  from  scientists  as  to  the 
probable  cause.  The  most  general  opinion  seems  to  be 
that  it  was  an  explosion  caused  by  water  flowing  from 
the  sea  into  subterranean  caverns,  where  it  was  ex- 
panded into  steam  under  such  tremendous  pressure  that 
it  could  no  longer  be  held  in  bounds;  therefore  seeking 
the  highest  point  in  the  vicinity  for  release.  Does  it  not 
seem  rather  that  it  would  seek  the  weakest  point,  the 


Fig.  41. 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  169 

crevices,  for  instance,  thru  which  the  water  gained 
access!  The  fact  that  the  trouble  was  not  local,  but 
that  the  disturbance  took  effect  at  the  same  time  hun- 
dreds of  miles  distant,  would  indicate  a  general  dis- 
turbance of  the  molten  matter  under  a  large  section 
of  the  earth's  crust;  thus  being  only  one  of  the  perfectly 
natural  and  necessary  occurrences  peculiar  to  the  ciust 
of  a  cooling  planet.  This  contraction  naturally  forces 
the  molten  matter  out  thru  volcanoes  which  seem  to 
be  the  original  ventholes  left  when  the  crust  first 
formed;  and  which  have  built  themselves  and  the  coun- 
try around  them  up  higher  and  higher  during  each  suc- 
cessive eruption.  Hon.  Austin  Young  of  Randsburg, 
California,  who  is  a  deep  analytical  thinker,  says  in 
Higher  Science  of  November,  1902 : 

*  *  *  The  theory  of  ocean  water  running  into  molten  lava  or 
into  hot  cavities  of  volcanoes  and  causing  them  to  explode,  as  ad- 
vanced by  scientists  generally,  seems  to  me  to  be  absurd.  In  the  first 
place,  the  natural  gravitation  of  mud,  sand  and  other  debris  in  the  s'ea, 
with  the  weight  of  water  above,  would  fill  up  all  such  crevices.  In  the 
second  place  if  there  were  fresh  cracks  from  below,  then  the  action  of 
the  volcano  must  have  started  before  the  water  got  in  at  all.  Even  if 
there  was  a  crevice  and  the  water  rushed  in  suddenly,  there  would  be 
but  a  small  explosion  about  like  a  dynamite  mine,  as  the  explosion 
must  come  at  once  when  the  water  first  touched  the  molten  matter. 
In  the  compact  state  of  the  earth  we  can  see  that  there  is  no  chance  for 
any  large  body  of  water  to  come  suddenly  in  contact  with  a  great  body 
of  molten  matter,  as  you  can  see  by  throwing  a  bucket  of  water  into 
a  caldron  of  melted  iron.  If  there  isi  such  a  thing  as  a  molten  inside 
to  the  earth,  the  water  would  be  instantly  driven  away  from  it  by  heat 
and  it  would  be  comparatively  cool  before  the  water  could  come  in 
actual  contact,  except  in  cases  where  the  molten  lava  overflowed  from 
volcanoes  and  ran  into  it. 

Of  all  the  guesses  I  have  seen,  attempting  to  account 


170  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

for  earthquakes,  there  has  not  been  much  that  is  really 
instructive,  or  to  the  point.  Most  of  the  scientists  have 
agreed  that  the  earth  is  cooling  from  a  molten  state  and 
that  the  buckling  of  the  surface  and  raising  of  moun- 
tains is  the  cause  of  them.  This  is  evidently  not  the 
case,  because  mountains  raise  very  slowly  and  gradual- 
ly and  no  one  could  possibly  perceive  such  a  gradual 
motion.  There  are  no  doubt  two  kinds  of  earthquakes, 
both  of  which  I  have  observed  hundreds  of  times  on  the 
Pacific  coast  and  they  are  both  due  to  violent  electrical 
disturbances;  one  in  the  atmosphere  entirely  and  the 
other  in  the  earth.  The  most  common  earthquake  which 
I  have  observed  is  a  product  of  desert  countries  and 
happens  during  what  is  called  "earthquake  weather.*1 
I  have  heretofore  explained  that  heat  and  electricity, 
in  fact,  all  forces  are  the  same  with  the  exception  of 
faster  or  slower  vibrations  of  force.  There  is  a  point  be- 
tween heat  and  electricity  where  heat  cooling  changes 
to  electricity,  and  this  may  take  place  as  heat  radiates 
from  the  earth's  center  toward  the  surface  where  great 
bodies  become  overcharged  and  later  discharge  into  the 
atmosphere  or  clouds  which  are  overcharged  with  the 
opposite  polarity. 

Cooling  is  a  process  of  gravity  and  magnetism  is  a 
result  or  part  of  cooling  and  must  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration for  the  action  of  magnets  and  magnetic 
needles.  Considering  these  facts  then  in  connection 
with  the  violent  shaking  of  the  earth,  we  may.  be  sure 
that  there  is  some  connection,  by  the  balancing  of  the 
positive  and  negative  electricity  contained  in  the  earth 
and  the  atmosphere.  I  have  often  seen  the  tops  of  hills 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


171 


nearest  the  clouds  blown  out  during  storms  when  the 
electricity  evidently  discharged  from  the  earth  into  the 
clouds.  Usually  the  clouds  are  overcharged  and  dis- 
charge into  the  earth;  but  this  is  not  always  the  case. 

I  am  investigating  this  subject  and  collecting  data 
which  Iwill  furnish  to  readers  of  my  magazine,  l  i  Higher 
Science/'  from  time  to  time.  One  of  the  strange  things 
I  have  lately  discovered  is  that  eggs  that  are  almost 
ready  to  hatch  are  killed  by  earthquakes,  or  by  very 
heavy  thunder  showers.  This  is  evidently  not  caused 
by  the  shaking,  but  by  the  electrical  charge. 


Fig.  42.— <Jiant  Sequoias,  near  Mariposa  Few  travelers  in  California 
neglect  to  visit  the  celebrated  big  trees,  of  which  there  are  several 
groups,  some  of  them  old  monarchs  of  the  forest,  reaching  a  height  of 
nearly  400  feet. 


xvrt. 

WHAT  GREAT  MEN  HAVE  SAID. 

Supporting  the  new  and  wonderful  theory  of  a  proces- 
sion of  planets,  many  astronomers,  physicists  and  phi- 
losophers have  given  their  discovered  evidence  of  its 
truth;  some  of  them  as  a  sort  of  prophesy  long  in  ad- 
vance of  its  discovery  in  1899.  Scientists  of  today  will 
be  astonished  at  this  testimony  when  they  find  it 
grouped  together  and  will  hardly  have  the  hardihood 
to  deny  it,  after  having  read  the  testimony  which  fits 
so  perfectly  into  every  part  of  the  discovery  of  a  pro 
cession  of  these  celestial  bodies  toward  the  center  of 
their  convergency. 

In  his  "Terrestial  Magnetism, "  Prof.  Procter  says: 

Interesting  as  are  the  bonds  of  union  which  Copernicus,  Kepler 
and  Newton  have  traced  in  the  relations  of  our  solar  system,  it  would 
seem  as  tho  we  were  approaching  the  traces  of  a  yet  more  wonderful 
law  of  association. 

Speaking  as  a  real  prophet,  Prof.  Agasis,  the  great 
American  scientist,  once  said: 

*  W'h-en  the  Unitary  Science  comes  it  will  be  something  so  entirely 
aside  from  our  fixed  habit  of  thought,  that  it  will  find  its  first  appreci- 
ation, probably,  among  men  of  large  general  Qulture,  rather  than  among 
men  who  are  specialists  in  science. 

*(Whiie!h  is  this  Processional  Theory  of  the  true  motions  of  matter.) 

It  is  a  noticable  fact  that  the  Processional  Theory, 
which  has  now  been  discovered  and  published  for  six 

172 


THE  PEOCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


173 


years,  has  never  been  accepted  by  a  single  scientific  in- 
stitution, altho  thousands  of  liberal  free  thinkers  and 
people  not  tied  to  text-boK)ks  by  diplomas,  perfectly 
understand  and  endorse  it.  The  principal  reason  why 
specialists  do  not  endorse  it  is  fully  explained  in  the 
preface  of  this  book.  It  is  because  they  have  received 
the  most  of  their  information  from  textbooks  and  their 
present  associations  being  with  societies  and  schools, 


Fig.  43. — Cliff  dwelling's  at  Walnut  Canyon,  Arizona,  nine  miles  south- 
east from  Flagstaff  They  occupy  a  level,  high  up  on  either  side  of  a 
narrow  gorge.  Relics  of  the  early  inhabitants  are  often  found  in  these 
caves. 

they  do  not  care  to  oppose  them  for  fear  of  losing  pres- 
tige, influence  or  diplomas.  This  is  a  deplorable  condi- 
tion for  which  there  seems  to  be  no  remedy  except  time 
and  new  generations.  People  are  like  sheep  who  follow 
a  bell.  Associations  and  societies  may  be  likened  to 
crystallization  of  matter,  because  they  crystallize  ideas 
until  they  are  fixed  or  dead  and  from  which  it  is  then 
hard  for  even  a  thinking  scientist  to  break  loose. 


174  THE  PBOCE88ION  OF  PLANETS 

Referring  to  the  disposition  of  the  sun's  radiation  of 
energy  and  matter,  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  new 
theory  or  discovery  of  a  procession  of  planets,  Sir  "Win. 
Hershell,  the  great  English  astronomer,  thinking  that 
light  was  matter,  once  said: 

It  is  probable,  nebulae  form  the  material  out  of  which  nature 
elaborates  suns  and  systems  and  that  in  virtue  of  a  central  gravitation 
each  particle  of  nebulous  matter  becomes  more  and  more  condensed 
and  assumes  a  rounder  form;  it  acquires  gradually  a  rotary  motion  and 
the  condensation  goes  on  increasing,  until  the  mass  acquires  consist- 
ency and  solidity  and  all  the  other  qualities  of  a  comet  or  planet;  that 
by  a  still  further  process  of  condensation  the  body  becomes  a  real 
star  and  that  thus  the  waste  of  celestial  bodies  by  the  perpetual 
cliff  ussion  of  their  light,  (he  should  have  said  gas  or  expanded  matter), 
is  continually  compensated  and  restored  by  new  formations  of  such 
bodies,  to  replenish  forever  the  universe  with  planets  and  suns.  (Phil. 
Trans.  1811). 

Prof.  John  Tyndal,  the  late  English  philosopher  and 
scientist,  in  his  work  "Heat  As  a  Mode  of-  Motion, " 
page  449,  says: 

As  surely  as  the  weights  of  a  clock  run  down  to  their  lowest 
position,  from  which  they  can  never  rise  again  unless  fresh  energy 
is  communicated  from  some  source  not  yet  exhausted,  so  surely  must 
planet  after  planet  cree-p  in  age  by  age  towards  the  sun. 

This  shows  that  Prof.  Tyndal  realizes  by  reason  and 
analogy  that  such  a  condition  was  inevitable;  but  the 
strange  part  of  it  is  that  he  could  believe  this  and  not 
wonder  or  know  what  must  be  the  result  when  they  did 
come  into  the  sun.  He  was  not  ignorant  of  the  Mayer 
theory  of  the  sun  being  fed  by  meteors,  as  he  says  in 
the  same  book,  (page  57) : 

*  *  *  Knowleelge  suc.h  as  that  you  now  possess,  has  caused 
philosophers  in  speculating  on  the  mode  in  which  the  sun  is  nourished 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


175 


Fit?.  44. 


176  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

and  his  supply  of  light  and  'heat  kept  up,  to  suppose  the  heat  and  light 
to  be  caused  by  the  showering  down  of  meteoric  matter  upon  'the  sun's 
surface.  Some  philosophers  suppose  the  Zodiacal  Light  to  be  a  cloud  of 
meteorites  and  from  it  it  is  imagined  the  showering  meteor  matter  may 
be  derived.  Now,  whatever  the  value  .of  this  speculation,  it  is  to  be 
borne  in  min>d  that  tlie  pouring  down  of  meteoric  matter  in  the  way 
indicated,  would  be  competent  to  produce  tire  light  and  heat  of  the 
sun.  With  regard  to  the  probable  truth  or  fallacy  of  the  theory,  it  is 
not  necessary  that  I  should  offer  an  opinion.  I  would  only  say  that 
tlhe  theory  deals  with  a  cause  which  if  of  sufficient  operation  would  be 
competent  to  produce  the  effect  ascribed  to  it. 

Altho  Prof.  Tyndal  did  not  see  fit  to  put  himself  on 
record  as  endorsing  the  theory  he  was  careful  not  to  dis- 
courage its  investigation.  Being  opposed  to  the  emis- 
sion theory  of  light,  believing  it  contained  no  substance 
and  not  realizing  that  the  sun  is  expanding  matter  into 
gas  of  tens  of  thousands  of  times  greater  bulk,  he,  of 
course,  saw  no  source  from  which  to  keep  up  the  supply 
of  falling  matter;  therefore  hesitated  to  endorse  it. 

If  he  could  have  realized  this  he  would  at  once  have 
perceived  the  simplicity  of  the  whole  working  scheme 
of  the  solar  system  and  all  nature  which  generates  force 
by  the  expanding  power  of  heat  and  the  contracting 
power  of  cooling.  This  portion  of  the  theory  took  such  a 
permanent  hold  on  his  mind,  however,  that  he  again 
goes  over  the  entire  theory  in  detail — commencing  on 
page  493  of  the  same  work  from  which  the  following 
are  extracts: 

There  is"  another  theory  which,  bold  as  it  may  appear  at  first 
sight  deserves  our  earnest  attention.  I  have  already  referred  to  it  a- 
the  meteoric  theory  of  the  sun's  lieat.  Solar  space  is  peopled  with 
ponderous  objects:  Kepler's  celebrated  statement  that  there  are  more 
comets  in  the  heavens  than  there  are  fishes  in  the  sea,  refers  to  the 
fact  that  a  small  portion  only  of  the  comets  belonging  to  our  solar 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  177 

system  are  seen  from  the  earth.  But  besides  comets,  planets  and 
moons,  there  are  a  numerous  class1  of  bodies  belonging  to  our  solar 
Systran — asteroids,  which  from  their  smallness  might  be  considered  as 
cosmos  atoms.  Like  the  planets  and  comets,  these  smaller  bodies  obey 
the  law  of  gravity  and  revolve  in  elliptic  orbits  around  the  sun;  and  it 
is  the}-,  when  they  come  within  the  eartli  's  atmosphere  that,  fired  by 
friction,  appear  to  us  as  meteors  and  falling  stars.  On-  a  clear  night 
twenty  minutes  rarely  pass  at  any  part  of  the  earth's  surface,  without 
the  appearance  of  at  least  one  meteor.  At  certain  times  they  appear 
in  enormous  numbers.  During  nine  hours  of  observation  in  Boston, 
when  they  were  described  as  falling  as  thick  as  snowflakes,  240,000 
meteors  were  calculated  to  have  bettn  observed.  The  number  falling  in  a 
single  night  upon  thei  earth  might  have  been  estimated  at  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  millions.  And  even  these  would  constitute  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  total  circulating  around  the  sun.  *  *  * 

Though  the  larger  bodies  show,  in  historic  times,  no  diminution 
of  their  periods  of  revolution,  this  may  not  hold  good  for  the  smaller 
bodies.  In  the  time1  required  of  the  earth  from  th-e  sun,  to  alter  a 
Single  yard,  a  small  body  may  'have  approac'hed  thousands  of  miles  nearer 
our  central  luminary.  Following  up  these  reflections  we  would  infer 
that  while  this  immeasurable  stream  of  ponderable  matter  rolls  unceas 
ingly  towards  the  sun,  it  must  augment  in  density  as  it  approaches  its 
center  of  convergency  and  here  the  conjecture  naturally  arises  that 
nebulous  lights  of  vast  dimensions  which  embraces  the  sun — the  Zo- 
diacal Light  may  owe  its  existence  to  these  crowded  meteoric  masses. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  at  least  proved  that  this  luminous  phe- 
nomena arises  from  matter  which  circulates  in  obedience  to  planetary 
laws;  the  entire  mass  constituting  the  Zodiacal  Light  must  be  constantly 
approaching  and  incessantly  raining  its  substances  down  upon  the  sun. 


His  expressed  idea  that  it  must  augment  in  density 
as  it  approaches  its  center  the  sun,  sustains  the  Proces- 
sional Theory  that  as  a  body  nears  the  sun  it  increases 
its  speed  by  falling,  increasing  centrifugal  force,  so  that 
the  diameter  of  its  orbit  would  shorten  more  and  more 
slowly,  as  its  speed  quickens.  He  goes  on  to  show 
how  all  matter  is  made  fuel  in  the  sun  and  then  he  says: 


178  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

It  matters  not  therefore,  whether  the  .substances  be  combus- 
tible, or  not;  their  being  combustible  would  not  add  sensibly  to  the- 
tremendous  heat  produced  by  their  mechanical  collision. 

Hero  then  we  have  an  agency  competent  to  restore  his  lost  energy 
to  the  sun  and  to  maintain  a  temperature  at  his  surface  which  tran- 
scend all  -terrestrial  combustion.  *  *  He  deals  with  the  true  causes 

I  do  not  pledge  myself  to  this  theory,  nor  do  I  ask  you  to 
accept  it  'as  demonstrated;  still  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  regard 
it  as  chimerical.  It  is  a  noble  speculation;  and,  depend  upon  it,  the 
true  theory— if  this  or  some  form  of  it  be  not  the  true  one— will  not 
appear  less  wild  or  less  astounding. 

Prof.  Ernst  Haeckel,  the  great  living  German  astron- 
omer, says  in  his  "Riddle  of  the  Universe,"  page  243: 

*  Even  our  mother  earth  which  was  formed  of  part  of  the 
gyrating  solar  system,  millions  of  ages  ago,  will  grow  cold  and  life- 
less after  the  lapse  of  further  millions  and  in  gradually  narrowing  its 
orbit,  will  fall  eventually  into  the  sun. 

Why  then  should  he  not  know  that  in  its  fall  it  must 
restore  heat  to  the  sun  and  why  does  he  not  see  that 
in  so  doing  it  must  be  changed  into  colorless  gas,  tens 
of  thousands  of  times  greater  in  bulk  and  be  pushed  up 
into  the  space  beyond  Neptune's  orbit? 

The  following  article  is  a  great  victory  for  the  Pro- 
cessional Theory,  altho  it  only  admits  the  possibility 
that  all  space  may  be  filled  with  the  gas  of  expanded 
matter. 

It  thus  appears  that  tire  upper  stratas,  both  of  the  sun 
and  the  earth  consist  of  lighter  constituents  which  are  largely  removed 
from  the  lower  atmosphere!  by  their  lightness,  and  no  limit  can  be 
placed  upon  the  distance  to  which  these  elements  would  travel  from 
the  sun  or  earth  into  interplanetary  space.  What  is  true  of  the  sun 
and  'earth,  is  doubtless  true  of  other  planets  and  other  suns,  and  it 
seems  not  impossible  that  even  interstellar  space  may  contain  these 
and  similar  gases,  in  an  almost  infinitely  'attenuated  condition.  What  the 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLACETS  179 

C'on-dition  of  these  gases  may  be  at  the  temperature  of  interstellar  apace,, 
which  cannot  be  far  removed  from  absolute  zero,  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
On  thra  one  hand,  at  such  a  temperature,  they  might  be  expected  to  be 
solid;  but  on  the  other  hand,  the  particles  would  be  relatively  so- 
few  and  far  a>part  from  each  other  that  they  would  have  the  properties 
of  a  gas.  Th'e  great  advance  in  our  knowledge!  during  the  past  few 
years  gives  promise  of  much  new  light  in  the  near  future.  (Popular 
Science  Monthly,  February,  1903). 

The  last  half  of  this  article  is  mere  speculation,  with 
no  facts  for  a  basis,  because  if  gas  was  in  a  solid  con- 
dition and  its  solid  atoms  far  apart,  it  would  no  longer 
be  gas;  but  on  the  contrary  would  be  crystal  clouds, 
thru  which  light  or  heat  could  not  travel  to  us  from 
other  suns.  It  is  positively  certain  that  lighc,  heatr 
electricity,  force  or  any  other  motion,  cannot  travel  thru 
an  absolute  vacuum,  which  absolute  zero  would  be,  for 
the  reason  that  where  there  is  no  matter  there  can  be 
no  motion  and  where  there  is  absolute  zm>  there  oan  be 
matter. 

Omar  Khayyam,  the  renowned  astronomer  poet  of 
Persia,  who  lived  about  1000  years  ago,  ^ays  in  his 
"Bubaiyat,  or  Life  Poem:" 

The  sages  who  have  compassed  sea  and  land, 
Their  secret   to   search   out   a-nd  understand— 
My  mind  misgives  me  if  they  CVCT  solved 
The  scheme  on  which  this  Universe  was  planned. 

David  P.  Todd,  quoting  Dr.  See's  ideas  in  his  book 
" Stars  and  Telescopes,"  page  252,  says: 

Applying  the  law  of  binary  evolution  to  the  planetary  system,  Dr. 
See  concludes  that  the  planets  were  not  separated  in  th'e  form  of 
rings,  as  Laplace  supposed,  but  in  the  form  of  lumps  or  masses  which 
would  easily  condense  into  planets  and  satellites.  In  this  manner  he 
escapes  the  necessity  of  explaining  how  rings  would  condense  into  single 


180 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 


masses;  indeed,  he  maintains  that  rings  would  not  condense  at  all  but 
become  swarms  of  small  bodies,  like  those  that  make  up  the  rings  of 
Saturn  and  the  small  planets  between  Mars  and  Jupiter. 

The  author  then  proceeded  to  endorse  Dr.  See's  ideas 
as  the  most  reasonable  advanced  (1902).  Of  course  he 
may  never  have  heard  of  or  read  the  Processional 
Theory  at  that  time,  but  the  impossibilities  of  the  Nebu- 
lar Hypothesis  were  very  apparent  to  both  Dr.  See  and 


Fitr.  45  —Showing  3000  feet  wash  thru  solid  granite. 


Prof.  Todd,  as  they  are  also  becoming  to  many  of  the 
leading  thinkers.  The  ridiculous  feature  of  the  outside 
planets  traveling  faster  than  the  ones  nearer  the  sun, 
when  they  should  be — as  they  are — traveling  hundreds 
of  times  slower,  is  dawning  upon  the  minds  of  all 
thinkers  and  forcing  astronomers  to  revise  their  old 
worm-eaten  text  books.  By  and  by  the  common  thinker 
will  force  them  to  see  the  whole  simple  truth  of  a  never- 


THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS  181 

ending  procession  of  planets  to  centers  or  suns,  where 
their  electric  energy  is  regenerated. 

Chambers'  Astronomy  has  the  following  sensible 
paragraph  upon  the  subject  of  comets  shortening  their 
orbits.  Vol.  L,  page  399: 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  comets  in  general,  for  sonre  unknown 
reason,  decrease  in  splendor  in  each  successive  revolution. 

In  the  light  of  facts  shown  in  the  Processional 
Theory,  the  " unknown  cause"  becomes  perfectly 
simple  and  easily  understood.  Comets  only  burn  them- 
selves up,  the  lighter  matter  falling  farther  and  farther 
back  as  they  drop  toward  the  sun,  until  the  splendor 
wears  out  and  the  nucleus  burns  up;  that  is  to  say,  ex- 
pands into  gas  till  there  is  not  enough  solid  matter  in 
any  one  place  to  make  an  illumination  by  falling. 

Peabody's  Elements  of  Astronomy,  also,  in  speaking 
of  comets,  note  485,  says: 

The  periods  of  both  Encke's  and  Fay's  comets  are1  diminishing; 
Enck-e's  looses  about  one  day  in  about  eight  revolutions.  This  indi- 
cates that  some  cause  checks  the  forward  or  tangential  force  of  these 
comets,  leaving  the  radical  force  of  the  sun  to  draw  them  more  swiftly 
about  itsself.  Encke  supposed  they  we/re  retarded  by  a  resisting 
medium,  or  ether,  which  is  most  dense  near  the  sun,  but  Fay's  comet 
is  delayed  *  more  than  Encke's  alt  bo  its  perihelion  is  much  farthor 
from  the  sun.  Others  suggest  that  comets  meet  meteoric  ston-es  and  that 
Fay's  as  its  orbit  is  farther  from  the  sun,  encounters  most  of  these 
obstacles.  Should  the  hmdexance,  whatever  it  may  be,  act  long  enough, 
they  must  finally  disappear  in  the  sun. 

The  fact  is  they  shorten  their  orbits  for  the  same 
reason  and  by  the  same  law  that  planets  do;  but  they 
are  so  small  and  have  such  eccentric  orbits  they  actually 

*  (Its  orbit  is  larger). 


182  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

shorten  them  in  a  measurable  degree  in  one  or  more 
orbits,  often  during  the  lifetime  of  a  human  being,  thus 
giving  us  an  exaggerated  scale  from  which  to  figure. 
The  reason  why  Fay's  comet  nears  the  sun  faster  than 
Encke's  is  because  it  is  farther  out,  therefore  moves 
more  slowly  and  does  not  have  so  much  centrifugal 
force  to  check  its  approach,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is 
governed  by  exactly  the  same  law  that  planets  obey  in 
their  approach  to  the  sun  and  that  moons  obey  in  their 
approach  to  their  planets. 

Prof.  Whewell,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise,  page  128, 
;says  of  shortening  orbits: 

The  fact  really  is  that  changes  are  taking  place  in  the  motions  of 
"heavenly  bodies  which  have  gone  on  progressively  from  the  first  dawn 
of  science.  the  moon  'has  been  moving  quicker  from  the  time 

of  the  first  recorded  eclipses  and  is  now  in  advance  about  four  times 
her  diameter,  of  where  her  own  place  would  have  been,  if  it  had  not 
been  affected  by  this  acceleration.  *  *  *  the  obliquity  of  its  ellipse 
is  also  in  a  state*  of  diminution  and  is  now  almost  two-fifths  of  a  degree 
less  than  it  was  in  the  time  of  Aristotle. 

Thus  we  have  additional  proof  that  the  moon  is  in- 
creasing her  speed  and  shortening  her  orbit,  as  all  other 
celestial  bodies  must  be  doing  and  as  has  been  amply 
proven  in  the  preceding  pages  by  hosts  of  harmonious 
statements,  as  well  as  by  figures  which  " never  lie." 
The  same  infallible  law  of  falling  increases  her  speed 
and  brings  her  nearer  to  the  earth,  and  all  matter  both 
in  the  solar  system  and  universe  moves  by  the  same  law 
of  falling. 

Prof.  Edgar  K  Larkin  of  Mt.  Lowe  Observatory,  Pas- 
adena, California,  who  has  been  familiar  with  the 


THE  PKOCES81ON  OF  PLANETS  183 

theory  of  a  procession  of  planets  since  its  discovery, 
says: 

Altho  the  prophesy  business  is  risky,  the  assertion  is 
ventured  here  that  the  discoveries  in  science  will  be  so  great  as  to  upset 
all  our  conceits.  Some  rockhewn  foundation  law  is  near,  beside  which 
all  our  present  laws  will  be  little  by-laws. 

Prof.  Lowell,  in  his  new  book  entitled  "The  Solar 
System/'  while  speaking  of  the  age  of  planets,  says: 

Mercury  represents  planetary  decrepitude.  (He  might  have 
included  Venus.)  Mars,  on  the  other  hand,  represents  planetary  yomth. 
Mars,  unlike  the  earth,  is  almost  all  land.  Water  is  scarce  and  its 
whole  supply  comes  from  its  polar  caps  <of  snow.  We  now 

know  of  relations  so  systematic  and  so  singular,  that  we  are  sure 
some  new  law  underlies  them.  It  is  rather  pleasant  than  otherwise  to 
liave  this  new  law  baffle  our  first  attempts  at  discovery.  The  only 
thing  we  are  sure  of  is,  a  time  is  to  come  when  each  of  the  bodies 
composing  the  solar  system  shall  turn  an  unchanging  facre  in  perpetu- 
ity to  the  sun;  when  each  will  have  reached  the  end  of  its  revolution  and 
be  set  in  the  unchanging  stare  of  death. 

William  J.  Cowan  says  in  the  Philadelphia  Journal: 

Every  planet  has  its  day.  Some  are  in  the  infant  stage  of 
existence;  some,  like  the  earth,  are  prepared  to  receive  and  support  life 
and  some  have  advanced  to  the  stage  of  old  age— their  vitality  gone, 
their  beauty  departed,  their  day  of  usefulness  past;  and  they  simply 
revolve  in  space  as  a  reminder  to  the  student  that  all  matter  in  a 
material  s'ense  shall  inevitably  perish.  Planets  come  into  existence  and 
in  the  course  of  time  pass  out  of  the  sphere  of  usefulness  and  others 
take  their  place. 

Dr.  M.  Wilhelm  Meyer,  in  "The  End  of  the  World/7 
published  in  1905,  speaking  of  moons  falling  to  their 
planets,  shows  how  astronomers  are  recently  discover- 
ing the  procession  of  planets.  On  page  127  he  says  very 
truly: 


184  THE  PEOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 

The    nearer    the    moon    comes    to    the    planet,    the    smaller 
its  orbit  and  the  faster  the  velocity  of  its  revolution.     *     *     * 

Again,  on  page  132  of  the  same  work,  in  speaking  of 
the  planets  falling  to  the  sun,  he  says: 

The  same  interplay  must  take  place  between  the  sun  and  the 
planets.  One  after  another  the  planets  will  'have  to  unite  with  the 
sun.  And  whether  a  planet  drops  all  at  once,  or  whether  it  is  first 
transformed  into  a  ring  and  then  falls  -piecemeal  very  gradually,  the 
rosuilt  will  be  essentially  the  same;  in  far-off  future  ages  the  sun's 
diminishing  supply  of  life-giving  heat  will  be  replenished,  in  the  one 
case,  suddenly  therewith  causing  tire  sun  to  flare  up  brightly  as  a  new 
star;  in  the  other,  slowly  in  gradual  additions. 

I  might  collect  and  continue  these  comments  and 
facts  almost  indefinitely;  but  the  quotations  given  cer- 
tainly make  sufficient  corroboration  to  convince  any 
common  thinker. 


XVIII. 

PKOOFS  OF  A  PROCESSION  OF  SOLID  MATTER 

TO  THE  SUN. 

The  following  reasons  and  facts,  each  and  every  one, 
prove  that  there  is  a  procession  of  solid  matter,  in  the 
solar  system,  always  on  its  way  to  and  falling  into  tho 
sun. 

The  planets  move.  This  shows  that  they  are  falling 
in  an  orbit  around  the  sun.  If  they  were  not  falling 
they  could  not  move. 

The  mathematical  ratio  of  the  distance  of  the  planets 
from  the  sun,  shows  that  they  are  coming  gradually 
down  ,  gaining  speed  as  they  fall,  which  increases  their 
centrifugal  force  and  checks  their  approach,  in  a  regu- 
lar ratio. 

The  mathematical  ratio  of  the  speed  with  which  the 
planets  travel  round  the  sun,  shows  that  they  are  fall- 
ing and  that  as  they  gain  speed  they  also  gain  centrifu- 
gal force,  which  checks  their  approach  in  a  regular  ratio. 

The  moons  obey  the  same  laws  in  approaching  their 
respective     planets    with    the    same    mathematical  pre 
cision  that  the  planets  obey  in  approaching  the  sun, 
both  as  to  speed  and  distance,  showing  that  it  is  a  law 
which  governs  all  solid  matter  having  an  orbit  in  space. 

The  orbits  of  Encke's  comet,  Fay's  comet,  Saturn's 
rings,  the  earth's  moon  and  the  planet  Mercury,  are  ab- 

185 


186  THE  PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 

solutely  known  to  be  shortening  their  orbits,  which  is 
proof  that  solid  matter  in  the  solar  system  is  falling  to 
the  sun. 

The  eclipses  of  the  moon  chronicled  by  the  Chinese 
thousands  of  years  ago,  are  several  days  different  from 
what  they  should  be,  if  the  moon  had  then  been  in  its 
present  orbit. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  a  student  of  the 
procession  of  planets  that  Christmas  day  is  the  first  day 
of  the  year,  or  was  originally  and  should  be  now.  It  is 
the  day  the  sun  starts  north,  bringing  springtime,  har- 
vest and  glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  It  is  the  day  when 
the  new  year  actually  begins,  and  was  the  great  annual 
event  of  Sun  worship  ages  ago.  The  reason  why  New 
Year's  day  has  overreached  a  week  later  than  Christ- 
mas day  is  easily  understood  when  we  realize  that  the 
earth  is  shortening  her  orbit  and  gaining  speed,  say 
only  a  few  seconds  in  a  year.  In  time  this  must  be 
corrected  and  we  know  that  about  once  in  every  thous- 
and years  some  bright  astronomer  like  Omar  Khayyam 
corrects  it;  and  by  measuring  time  New  Year's  day 
reaches  more  and  more  ahead.  The  measured  year  is 
longer  than  the  real  year,  because  the  orbit  of  the  real 
year  is  not  only  shorter,  but  the  earth's  speed  is  con- 
tinually faster  as  it  falls  toward  the  sun.  Since  the  first 
chronicle  or  writing,  when  New  Year's  day  was  first  es- 
tablished by  calendar,  the  earth's  orbit  has  evidently 
been  shortened  8,920,000  miles.  Christmas  day  never 
changes  because  it  is  the  day  that  the  sun  (apparently) 
starts  on  its  return  trip  north  and  must  happen  at  a  cer- 


THE  PKOCEiSSIOX  OF  PLANETS  187 

tain  point  in  the  earth's  orbit,  and  not  at  the  same  time 
as  measured  last  year  or  any  other  year.  All  nature 
feels  this  time;  plants,  insects,  animals  and  in  fact  all 
life  feels  the  returning  warmth,  and  nature  itself  seems 
to  rejoice.  As  long  as  the  north  pole  of  the  earth  points 
to  the  north  star  the  sun  will  (apparently)  start  north 
at  exactly  the  same  point  in  the  earth's  orbit,  altho  the 
time  of  an  orbit  in  days  might  be  only  half  as  many.  In 
correcting  the  year  once  in  many  centuries,  the  astron- 
omers, not  realizing  that  the  earth  travels  around  the 
sun  in  shorter  orbits,  have  evidently  placed  the  time  of 
New  Year's  day  in  advance,  as  a  year  measured  by  time 
would  place  it,  until  it  is  now  seven  days  beyond,  over- 
reaching, or  coming  seven  days  later  than  the  true  time. 

The  sun  is  not  becoming  colder,  as  it  should  be  if  not 
fed  by  the  continual  return  of  falling  matter. 

The  sunspots  and  great  explosions  on  the  sun,  show 
that  solid  matter  is  continually  falling  into  it  and  being 
converted  into  gas  of  tens  of  thousands  of  times  greater 
bulk,  which  makes  greater  heat  and  moves  magnetic 
needles  at  the  earth  as  soon  as  the  motion  of  light 
reaches  the  earth  from  them. 

When  a  celestial  body  travels  in  an  elliptic  orbit,  it 
gains  speed  as  it  approaches  its  nearest  curve  (peri 
helion)  and  loses  speed  as  it  goes  up  again,  or  ap- 
proaches its  aphelion  curve.  This  is  more  noticeable  in 
the  case  of  comets  because  their  orbits  are  more  elon- 
gated than  the  orbits  of  other  celestial-bouties. 

The  fact  that  there  is  a  measurable  pressure  upward 
from  the  sun  shows  that  it  is  expanding  solid  matter 


188 


THK  PKOCBSSION  OF  PLANETS 


into  gas  and  that  the  gas  is  thus  forced  up  by  expansion 
and  must  necessarily  fall  to  the  sun  again,  the  same  as 
expanded  vapor  condenses  and  falls  to  the  earth,  as 
rain,  snow  or  hail. 


Fig.  48. 
Spectrum  of  New  Star  in  Perseus. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


"^ 


FRANKLIN  H.  HEALD 

Corner  Amabel  and  Dayton  Avenue 
Los  Angeles,  California. 


INDEX 


Absolute    Zero 35 

Agassiz,   Prof 17] 

Age  of   Planets    45 

Alpha  Centuri,  our  nearest  sun 107 

Its  orbit  around  our  sun   26,  108,  109 

Annular  Theory 80,  81,  160 

Areturus,  its  immense  distance 107 

Argol,  its  immense  speed   109 

Argol  's  Analysis  of  the  sun   114 

Aristotle    135,   182 

Asteroids 26,  47,  49,  62,  68,  73,  97,  134,  151 

Bailey,  Prof,  of  State  Geological  staff 165 

Barnard,  Prof.,  (illustration  of  Jupiter) 58 

Baumgardt,  Prof.,  (illustrating  the  checking  of  a  planet)    71 

Binary   Systems 24,    110,    113,    126 

Bodie  's   Law    67,    150 

Burnam,  Prof,  of  Lick  Observatory   110,  132 

Canis,  Venatici,  constellation  of 156 

Canyon   Diablo    138 

Castor,  the   double   star    109,    110 

Centrifugal  force    98 

Ceres     67 

Chamber 's    Astronomy    100,   181 

Chemical  decomposition    22 

Christmas  day   187,  188,  189 

Coal   154   to  159 

Yucca    coal    165 

Conditions    identical     92 

Conservations   of   energy    v. 19 

Comets .' 140,  141,  143,  144,  146,  152 

Speed  among  the   stars    (illustration)    141 

A  co-met 's  tail   (illustration)    143 

Curves  of  orbits   144 

Copernicus  (crater  of  the  moon)    137 

Cowan,   William   J 184 

Corona   (illustration)   at  total  eclipse  of  the  stin 99 

Crust  of  the  Earth 154 

Cliff  Dwellers,    (illustration)   Walnut   Canyon,   Arizona 173 

Tosemite  Valley    (illustration)    180 

193 


194  INDEX 

Death    Valley 89 

Demis 65,  79 

Drummond  Light    39 

Diameter  of  Venus 90 

Disintegrated  planet 98 

Earth,  the 69,  73,  81,  87,  88,  95,  151,  154,  173,  174,  176 

Crust   of 154 

Earthquakes    168,   171 

Eclipse,  total  of  the  sun   (illustration)    104 

Flcctric    lantern    (illustration)     32 

Electricity  33  to  36,  52,  62 

Elements   of   Matter    19,    20 

Elliptic  Orbits   95 

Encke  'a  Comet 147,  181,  182,  186 

Eros   (the  nearest  Asteroid)    65    66 

Expanded  Matter   17,  18,  24,  33,  34,  35,  38,  39,  105 

Fay's  Comet    147,  152,  181,   182,   186 

First  class  planets   52 

Fiske,  Prof.  John 83 

Flora  (an  Asteroid)    68 

Form  and  Motion   17  to  26 

Foxfire     36 

Friction  of  Light   89 

Galileo   53,  54,  132 

Gates,   Prof.   Elmer    160 

Gillette  and  Rolf  'a  Astronomy    144 

Glacial  Epoch   45,   56,  83 

Gould,  C.  S.  (in  Eoots  and  Powers)    101 

Graduated    Atmospheres    105 

Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado 138 

(illustration)    82 

Gravity    17,    20,    21 

Specific  gravity 39 

Haeckel,  Prof.   Ernst    178 

Heating  and   Cooling    17 

Heald  Coalfields   163,  165 

Heald,  Franklin  H.   (illustration)    191 

Hebe    68 

Height  of  'mountains   (on  Venus)    92 

Heintz,  Charles   (Common  Sense  Theory  of  the  Universe)    143 

Heinzeil,  Prof  Oscar  P 166,  167 

Hergchel,  Sir  John ,42,  174 

Human  Life   (or  intelligent  life  possible)    89 

Inner   Asteroids    97,    114 

Intelligent  Life   (impossible  on  Mars)    89 

Jason,   Prof,    (illustration)     115 

Juno   .  67 


INDEX  195 

Jupiter,  the  planet 47,  57,  61,  62,  64,  69,  94,  111,  130,  132,  133,  151 

Jr.piter's  Belts*  Illustration) f>$ 

The  Great  Keel  Spot   61 

Moons  of  Jupiter    (illustration)    132 

Tho  moons  of  Jupiter  (table  ghovnng  distance  and  speed)    ..133 

Keller,  Dr .' 53,  56 

Kepler   78 

La  Place,  Prof , 179 

Larkin,  Dr.  Edward  L 77,   182 

Last  Moon  of  Venus 90,  91 

Lebudue,  Prof.  Peter 73,  124 

Levornor,  L.  (observation  discovering  Vulcan)    97 

Lick  Observatory   110 

Lick   Observatory    (illustration)     •  18 

Light,  Heat  and  Electricity   32,   37 

Motion   of  Lright    33 

Spectroscopie    (photographs    of)     36 

Spectrum   of    (illustration)    37 

Heat  of   35 

Light   Signals    (illustration)    77 

Liquid    Air    38 

Loekyear's  Elements  of  Astronomy   24,  92,  137 

Lowell,  Prof,   (of  Flagstaff,  Ariz.)    184 

Lowell's  Picture  of   Mars    (illustration)    70 

Lyrae,  a  double-double  star 110 

Magnetic 

Magnetic   Observatories    101 

Magnetic   Poles    94 

Mars,  planet  of 44,  45,  49,  64,  68  to  79,  83,  89,  134,  151,  184 

Markings   of    (illustration)    70 

Canals  of   71,  83 

Signaling  to    (illustration)    77 

Mathematical  Proof  of  a  Procession    150 

Maxwell,    Clerk    53 

Mercury,  planet  of 

30,  41,  64,  84,  92,  93,  95,  96,  112,  147,  149,  150,  153,  184,  186 

Meyer,  Dr.  Wilhelm  E 118,  119,  139,  184,  185 

Milky  Way   24,  99,  113,  164,  183 

A  view  of   (illustration)    113 

Suns    in    (illustration)     183 

Mineral  Belts    71 

Mizar  (a  double  star)    110 

Mt.  Lowe  Observatory  and  railroad  (illustration)    21 

Mystery  of  the  Magnet    94 

Motion  of  expanded  matter 23,  26 

Moons   74,  90,  91,  95,  131,  136,  186 

(illustration)     91 

(illustration)  showing  pits  where  Asteroids  have  fallen 131 


196  INDEX 

Table  of  number .130 

(illustration)   showing  Asteroid  in  center  of  ring  mountain- 
craters    131 

Nebulae 24,  25,  106,  127,  145,  153,  156,  158,  168 

Resolved  into  suns  with  large  telescope  (illustration) 106 

Cannot  'be  resolved  into  suns  with  large  telescope  (illus.) .  .  .  .127 

Nucleus  of  a  new  world  (illustration)    145 

Spiral  nebulae  in  Canis  Venatici   (illustration)    156 

Great  nebulae  in  Virgo  (illustration) 158 

Great  spiral  nebulae  (illustration)    168 

Nebular  theory  wrong 29,  30,  73,  134 

(Illustration)  showing  speed  according  to  nebular  theory.  ...    29 

Neptune 26,  28,  29,  39,  41,  49,  62,  84,  107,  128,  139,  149,  151,  152 

New   Planets    25,   26 

New  Star  in  Perseus   74,  75,  111,  112,  189 

Spectrum    of    (illustration)     189 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac   20,  84,  152 

Ocean  Currents   21 

Omar  Khayyam 179,  187 

Opposite  Forces    19 

Orion,   constellation   of .145 

(Illustration)  The  great  nebulae  in 145 

Pallas 67 

Pasadena,  from  Mt.  Lowe   (illustration)    21 

Peabody  's  Elements   of    Astronomy    181 

Pelee,  Mt.,  eruption  of   (illustration)    167 

Piazzi    67 

Pleiades,  constellation  of 98 

Plotts,  Wm 55,  56,  139,  162 

Popular  Fallacies,  for  sensational  publication    92 

Position  and  speed  of  planets    151 

Procter,  Prof,  on  terrestrial  magetism   171 

Port  Los  Angeles  (illustration)  showing  rising  coast 147 

Radius  Vector    (illustration)    86 

Rain,  Snow  and  Hail 20,  21 

Ring  Mountains' 74 

(illustration) 136 

Rings  of  Saturn 30,  74 

(illustration)     51 

Rodger 's  Theory  of  the  Universe    117 

Saturn,  planet   of    

47,  50,  51,  56,  59,  61,  78,  92,  130,  135,  139,  147,  157,  186 

(illustration)     51 

See,  Dr.,  in  Stars  and  Telescopes   179,  180 

Siemens  &  Wheatstone  machine   52 

Sinking  Coasts    147,   155 

(illustration)  at  Santa  Monica,  California 147 

Solid  Matter   39 


INDEX  197 

Spectroscope    36,  42,  46 

(illustration)   instruments  of    33 

(illustration)   spectroscopic  instrument  in  Mt.  Lowe  Ob 42 

Sun,  the 104,  106,  107,  108,  110,  112,  114,  115,  122,  123 

(illustration)   showing  explosions   on 104 

(illustration)   nebula/e   dissolved  into  suns 106 

'  illustration)  showing  constant  explosions  and  flame 108 

(illustration)    a   glowing,  burning  mass 110 

(illustration)   showing  disc  and  one  spot   115 

(illustration)   showing  six  daily  photographs  of  spot 118 

(illustration)  showing  speed  of  gas  up 123 

(illustration)   Hale's  snapshot  of  solar  prominences   120 

Stars  and  Telescopes,  by  Dr.  See   179,  180 

Telescope  (illustration)  the  eyepiece 125 

Titus,  Prof 66 

Thompson,  Sir  Wm 44,  128 

Todd,  David  P 179,  180 

Tyndall,  Prof.  John    174,  178 

Uranus,  the  planet  of 29,  41,  49,  62,  128,  130,  151,  152 

Ursa  Major,  the  constellation  of   110 

Vail,  Prof.  Isaac  N 80,  81,  160 

Venus,  planet  of 64,  74,  88  to  92,  120,  151,  184 

Vesta   67 

Virgo,  constellation  of    24 

Voltaire,  prophecy  of   78 

Vulcan,  a  supposed  planet 97 

Will-o  '-the-Wisp    36 

Whewell,  Prof.  Bridgewater   Treatise 135 

Young,  Hon.  Austin 

Young,   Prof 102,    116,    169 

Zodiacal  Light,  disintegrated  planets,  etc 98,  100,  177 


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